NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- It's 10 years for the ringleader in a thwarted plot to blow up the New York City subway system.
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Najibullah Zazi was given a once 'unthinkable' second chance on Thursday, when he was handed a sentence that essentially amounts to time already served.
His attorney expects him to be released in days, ABC7 reports.
Zazi, a 33-year-old naturalized citizen, was radicalized in 2008, after traveling to Pakistan where he was trained by Al-Qaeda in the use of explosives.
Zazi and two others were recruited for a martyrdom mission that involved rush hour suicide attacks on the subway during Ramadan, on the 8th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
``Zazi's assistance came in the face of substantial potential danger to himself and his family,'' Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas M. Pravda wrote in the court filing. ``By aligning himself with the government against al-Qaeda, Zazi assumed such a risk.''
Sentencing guidelines had called for Zazi to spend the rest of his life in prison, but prosecutors credited him for his assistance over the past 9 years -- he even implicated his two best friends in the plot.
The plot was foiled by federal authorities and called one of the most serious threats to the nation since 9/11.
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