From Fox News: A divided federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., on Friday tossed out an agreement that would have allowed 9/11 terror mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to plead guilty in another failed effort to end a years-long legal saga surrounding the military prosecution of men held at Guantánamo Bay.
The 2-1 D.C. Circuit appeals court decision upheld then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s decision to undo the plea deal approved by military lawyers and senior Pentagon staff.
The deal would have carried life without parole sentences for Mohammed and two co-defendants, potentially taking capital punishment off the table.
Mohammed, a Pakistani national, is accused of spearheading the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon and another commercial jetliner that crashed in Pennsylvania.
Austin said a decision on whether to take the death penalty off the table could only be made by the Secretary of Defense.
The court ruled that then-Sec. Austin did, indeed, have legal authority to withdraw from the plea deal with the terrorist because the promises made in the deal had not yet been fulfilled, Fox News reported.
Families of 9/11 victims are commending the ruling.
⚖️ Families of 9/11 victims welcome ruling throwing out Khalid Sheikh Mohammed plea deal
🎤 @MDiamond8 reports https://t.co/4Rp2yGCmki pic.twitter.com/2kMkKEpXIx
— 1010 WINS on 92.3 FM (@1010WINS) July 11, 2025
READ MORE from Fox News.
Court throws out plea deal for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, two other terrorists https://t.co/0bIW9cek5w
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 11, 2025
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