Pirate hits ‘brig’ time
She shed tears for his victims, then keelhauled the black-hearted buccaneer who had held them captive.
An emotional judge yesterday lowered the boom on a scrawny Somali pirate who led the armed hijacking of an American freighter and kidnapped its captain.
Manhattan federal Judge Loretta Preska imposed a maximum, 405-month sentence on 21-year-old Abduwali Muse after tearfully reading aloud from letters written by crew members of the Maersk Alabama and their family members.
The judge choked up repeatedly — at one point removing her glasses and dabbing at her eyes with a tissue — as she highlighted the anguish inflicted by the ordeal off the Horn of Africa.
One letter, from the wife of Third Engineer John Cronan, said they lost their family home to foreclosure because he’s been unable to return to work due to posttraumatic stress.
“I’ve learned to wake him with my foot to avoid being struck in the face as he lashes out at pirates in his sleep,” Heather Cronan wrote.
Another letter, from heroic Capt. Richard Phillips, contrasted the grim reality of his experience — including four days held hostage on a lifeboat — with lighthearted adventures shown on the silver screen.
“It affects us in our daily lives, and it is not a Disneyland-esque problem,” Phillips wrote. “These are not Johnny Depps.”
A former crew member, however, blamed the captain for steering his ship into danger, saying Phillips ignored repeated warnings to stay at least 600 miles off the coast of Somalia.
“He did not do that,” said Third Officer Colin Wright, noting that the ship was only 230 miles out when it was attacked on April 8, 2009.
“Bullets rang off the bulkhead right next to me. It was a very scary experience,” Wright, 44, told the courtroom.
Prosecutor Brendan McGuire focused on the “horrific” nature of Muse’s crimes, noting that he played a one-sided game of Russian roulette with Phillips.
Muse — whose lawyer, Fiona Doherty, sought leniency due to his “very young” age and impoverished upbringing — shut his eyes and winced slightly as his prison sentence of nearly 34 years was imposed.
“I ask for forgiveness from all the people that I harmed, and also the US government,” he said earlier through a Somali interpreter.
Meanwhile, Navy investigators are continuing to probe the disappearance of about $30,000 that the pirates looted from the Maersk Alabama’s safe.
The money was never recovered after SEAL snipers killed Muse’s three confederates as they held Phillips at gunpoint on the lifeboat.
