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Courtesy: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/59379.html


  Son of Liberia's ex-leader gets 97 years in U.S. torture case


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          By Jay Weaver | Miami Herald

The son of ex-Liberian President Charles Taylor was sentenced to 97
years in prison on Friday in a landmark torture case that grew out of a
U.S. investigation into arms trafficking in Liberia.

Charles ''Chuckie'' Taylor Jr. was convicted in October of leading a
campaign of torture against people opposed to his father's rule.
Although he wasn't charged with killing any of them, his indictment
alleged that he killed at least one of seven victims.

Federal prosecutors have cited the murder allegation in recommending
that U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga send the former Orlando
resident to prison for 147 years, stemming from his convictions on eight
conspiracy, torture and firearm charges.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Caroline Heck Miller called Taylor's violent
conduct a ''gross offense against the public,'' urging the judge to
impose consecutive sentences.

His defense lawyers countered that Taylor, 31, was not convicted of
murder and therefore should be imprisoned for seven to 20 years.

Taylor Jr. was tapped by his father to command an anti-terrorist unit
called the ''Demon Forces'' that beat, burned and beheaded Liberian
civilians from 1999 to 2003, the jury concluded.

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