PEORIA, Illinois -- An al Qaeda sleeper agent who admitted having contact with the alleged mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was sentenced to more than eight years in prison Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Michael Mihm could have sentenced Ali al Marri to as much as 15 years. But he handed down the lighter sentence of eight years and four months in consideration of what defense attorneys' called harsh treatment during the almost six years Marri was held without charges in a U.S. Navy brig.

The 44-year-old Qatar native pleaded guilty in May to conspiring to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization.

He wept through his 10-minute testimony Thursday, telling Mihm he was sorry he ever helped the terrorist organization and glad his actions never led to any harm.

Mihm told Marri he didn't believe he'd renounced al Qaeda and thought he was likely to attack the U.S. if given the chance. But he also said Marri deserved credit for the time he'd spent in isolation in the Navy brig in South Carolina.

Marri quietly thanked Allah in Arabic when Mihm delivered the sentence.

During the two-day sentencing hearing, defense attorneys showed videos and presented testimony to show Marri had endured cruel treatment -- including sensory deprivation, lengthy interrogations and threats to harm his family -- during almost six years in the Navy brig. In court documents, they argued that amounted to a sentence ``beyond what our nation stands for and tolerates as a matter of respect for the law.''

Prosecutors had argued for the maximum sentence, presenting testimony to try to prove Marri would still try to inflict harm on the U.S. if he had a chance.

The judge's decision could have far-reaching consequences because the United States still holds 221 foreign captives at Guantánamo Bay.

If convicted, those detainees also could argue their time in custody should be considered at sentencing, as didOsama bin Laden's driver, who was convicted at Guantánamo and ordered to serve an additional 5 ½ months.

The driver, Salim Hamdan, got credit for his time served at the remote base in southeast Cuba after a trial that also alleged episodes of abusive treatment in U.S. custody.

Marri admitted that he trained in al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and stayed in al Qaeda safe houses in Pakistan between 1998 and 2001, learning how to handle weapons and communicate by phone and e-mail using code.

He also acknowledged having regular contact with Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the Guantánamo captive the government says masterminded the Sept. 11 attacks, and with Mustafa Ahmad al Hawsawi, also at Guantánamo, who allegedly helped the Sept. 11 hijackers with money and Western-style clothing.

He was arrested in December 2001 while a graduate student at Bradley University in central Illinois. In 2003, President George W. Bush declared Marri an enemy combatant, one of three held on U.S. soil since the 2001 attacks.

After the U.S. Supreme Court agreed in December 2008 to consider Marri's challenge of his enemy combatant status, President Barack Obama ordered him surrendered to civilian authorities in Peoria, where Bradley University is located and he was indicted.

Prosecutors said Marri deserved the maximum sentence, writing in court documents he ``was fully aware of the nature of al Qaeda's violent philosophy against the United States and their ability to inflict mass casualties. He agreed to the mission knowing that it would be in furtherance of that agenda.''

During Marri's sentencing hearing, an Air Force major testified she believed Marri would attack the U.S. if given a chance.

Maj. Deborah Sirratt said she based her conclusion on hours of interaction with Marri while she was in charge of medical care in the U.S. Naval Consolidated Brig in Charleston, South Carolina. She said he believed nonbelievers should be killed, talked about his beliefs as an al Qaeda member and thought ``Americans should get out of the Middle East.''

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