Ahmed Abu Khattala

Early life

Abu Khattala grew up in el-Leithi, a Benghazi neighborhood named after the River of Oblivion. On 6 August 2013, U.S. officials confirmed that Abu Khattala had been charged with playing a significant role in the attack. According to NBC, the charges were filed under seal in Washington, D.C. in late July 2013.

Capture

On the weekend of 14–15 June 2014, U.S. Delta Force special operations personnel captured Abu Khattala in a covert mission, codenamed "Greenbrier River", in Libya, using an informant to lure him to an isolated villa by the coastline. According to court records, Khattala was armed with a handgun and violently resisted capture, before he was handcuffed, blindfolded, gagged, and earmuffed. He was given three medical staples while aboard in treatment of his injuries. This one-count indictment was described by U.S. officials as a placeholder indictment to allow Abu Khattala to be brought to court and allow more time for a grand jury to hear more evidence.

On 14 October 2014, a superseding indictment against Abu Khattala was filed, adding 17 new charges. Abu Khattala, through his attorneys, filed a motion asking for a court order to return him to Libya and forgo the death penalty.

Abu Khattala's trial began on 2 October 2017, and was expected to last five weeks. In his opening statements, Khattala's lawyer, Jeffrey Robinson, denied Khattala's participation in the attacks.

On 28 November 2017, a jury in Washington acquitted Abu Khattala of 14 of the 18 charges he faced after deliberating for five days following the seven-week trial. He was convicted of four lesser charges, including conspiracy to provide material support for terrorism, maliciously destroying and injuring dwellings and property as well as using and carrying a semi-automatic weapon during a crime of violence.

On 27 June 2018, Abu Khattala was sentenced to 22 years in prison. The judge spared him from a possible life sentence, saying he had essentially been convicted of property crimes. As of 2022, Abu Khattala is incarcerated at ADX Florence, the federal supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.

Abu Khattala's sentence was overturned in July 2022 by a DC Circuit Court of Appeals who ruled that a 22-year sentence was too short given the gravity of Khattala's crimes and the vital need to deter such crimes. On 26 September 2024, Khattala was resentenced to 28 years in prison.