BY STEVEN DUBOIS

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A Somali American is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday for attempting to detonate a weapon of mass destruction four years ago in Portland, Oregon.

Mohamed Mohamud faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for the plot that was actually an FBI sting. Agents posing as terrorists supplied the fake bomb that Mohamud tried to detonate at a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony.

In court documents, government lawyers ask a federal judge to sentence Mohamud to 40 years in prison, saying he never wavered in his willingness to kill thousands.

Defense attorneys seek a 10-year sentence. They say the plot wouldn’t have happened without government involvement and Mohamud has shown remorse.

The sentencing was delayed a year after the government disclosed that warrantless overseas wiretaps helped make its case. Mohamud’s conviction was later upheld.

Source: AP