United States v. Abduwali Abdiqadir Muse

1. Case Title & Citation

Case Name: United States v. Abduwali Abdiqadir Muse

OSCOLA Citation: United States v Muse, 756 F Supp 2d 391 (SDNY 2010)

Bluebook Citation: United States v. Muse, 756 F. Supp. 2d 391 (S.D.N.Y. 2010)

2. Court Name & Bench

Court: United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

Judge: U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew J. Peck (age determination ruling); Federal District Court Judge (sentencing)

3. Judgment Date

Initial Ruling (Adult Determination): April 21, 2009

Guilty Plea: May 18, 2010

Sentencing: February 16, 2011

4. Parties

Prosecution/Plaintiff:

• United States of America
• U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara (U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York)

Defendant:

• Abduwali Abdiqadir Muse (also spelled Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse)
• Somali national, alleged pirate

5. Case Facts

Background

• On April 8, 2009, the MV Maersk Alabama, a U.S.-flagged container ship carrying humanitarian aid from USAID, World Food Program, and Catholic Relief Services, was hijacked approximately 350 miles off the coast of Somalia in the Indian Ocean.
• The vessel was bound for Mombasa, Kenya, with a crew of 20 members and 17,000 metric tons of cargo, including 401 containers of food aid destined for Somalia, Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda.

The Hijacking

• Four Somali pirates, led by Abduwali Abdiqadir Muse, boarded the Maersk Alabama after firing shots at the vessel.
• Muse was the first to board the ship, fired a shot at Captain Richard Phillips, helped steal $30,000 in cash from the ship’s safe, and bragged about hijacking ships in the past.
• The crew resisted; one crew member stabbed Muse’s hand with an ice pick and the crew managed to tie him up temporarily.
• The pirates escaped with Captain Phillips in a lifeboat, holding him hostage for five days while demanding $2 million in ransom and safe passage.

Military Intervention

• The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Bainbridge and guided-missile frigate USS Halyburton were dispatched to the Gulf of Aden.
• During negotiations on April 12, 2009, Muse boarded the USS Bainbridge to negotiate with what he believed were Somali clan elders.
• While Muse was aboard the Bainbridge, U.S. Navy SEAL Team Six snipers simultaneously shot and killed the three remaining pirates who were holding Captain Phillips hostage in the lifeboat.
• Muse was immediately taken into custody.

Additional Charges

• In January 2010, Muse was charged with involvement in two additional hijackings that occurred in March and April 2009.
• One vessel (identified as “Ship-2”) was still being held hostage at the time of the additional indictment.
• During one hijacking, Muse allegedly aimed a gun at hostages, threatened to kill them, and displayed what appeared to be an improvised explosive device (IED).

Historical Significance

• This was the first successful hijacking of a U.S.-flagged vessel since 1821.
• Muse was thought to be the first person charged with piracy in a U.S. court in more than 100 years (since 1885).

6. Issues Raised

1. Whether Muse could be tried as an adult or should be treated as a juvenile (age determination issue).

2. Whether U.S. courts had jurisdiction to prosecute piracy under universal jurisdiction principles.

3. Application of 19th-century piracy statutes to modern maritime crime, including:

   • 18 U.S.C. §1651 (Piracy under the law of nations – mandatory life sentence)
   • 18 U.S.C. §2280 (Seizing a ship by force)
   • 18 U.S.C. §1203 (Hostage-taking)
   • 18 U.S.C. §1201 (Kidnapping)
   • 18 U.S.C. §924(c) (Possession of machine gun during violent crime)

4. Appropriate sentencing for modern piracy offenses balancing deterrence, proportionality, and the defendant’s circumstances.

5. State responsibility and prosecution venue when pirates are captured on the high seas by naval forces.

7. Arguments of the Parties

Defense (Muse’s Attorneys):

Age Dispute:

• Argued Muse was either 15 or 16 years old at the time of the hijacking and should be tried as a juvenile.
• His mother claimed he was born in 1992 (making him 16); his father claimed 1993 (making him 15).
• Presented evidence of Muse’s difficult background: poverty, lack of education, and economic desperation in Somalia.

Mitigating Circumstances:

• Highlighted Somalia’s status as a failed state with no effective government.
• Emphasized economic factors driving Somali piracy: illegal toxic waste dumping destroying fishing industry, civil war aftermath, and lack of opportunities.
• Muse grew up in extreme poverty in Galkayo, often without food or clothes.
• Was married in 2008 but couldn’t afford to establish a home.
• Allegedly recruited into piracy at age 16 due to economic desperation.

Plea for Leniency:

• At sentencing, Muse apologized at length, stating: “I ask for forgiveness from all the people I harmed, including the U.S. government.”
• Defense counsel emphasized his youth, poverty, and lack of sophistication.

Prosecution (United States):

Age Determination:

• Argued Muse made statements suggesting he was older than claimed.
• Presented evidence that Muse was born in 1990, making him 18-19 years old at the time of the offense.
• Successfully argued for adult prosecution.

Severity of Conduct:

• Emphasized Muse’s leadership role as the first to board the ship.
• Highlighted his violent and threatening behavior: firing at the captain, brandishing weapons, making death threats.
• Noted he brazenly “tore through the ship in a way that belied his young age and skinny, 5-foot-2 frame.”
• Presented evidence of involvement in two additional hijackings involving IEDs and continued hostage situations.

Impact on Victims:

• Captain Phillips submitted a letter calling Muse a “terrorist.”
• Phillips described enduring mock killings and psychological torture during the five-day ordeal.
• Phillips requested justice and “a proper sentence” on behalf of “all Merchant Mariners.”

Deterrence:

• Argued that strong punishment was necessary to deter modern piracy threatening international commerce and maritime security.
• U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated: “Modern-day pirates who wreak havoc off faraway coasts will be met with modern-day justice in the United States.”

Criminal History:

• Presented evidence of Muse’s involvement in three separate hijackings within weeks.
• Emphasized pattern of violent criminal conduct.

8. Judgment / Final Decision

Age Determination (April 21, 2009)

• U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew J. Peck ruled that Muse was not under 18 years old.
• Court determined he could be tried as an adult.

Guilty Plea (May 18, 2010)

• Muse pleaded guilty to six felony counts:
  • Two counts of hijacking maritime vessels
  • Two counts of kidnapping
  • Two counts of hostage-taking

Plea Agreement:

• Charges dropped in exchange for guilty plea:
  • Piracy under the law of nations (18 U.S.C. §1651 – which carried mandatory life sentence)
  • Possession of a machine gun during violent crimes
• This removed the possibility of mandatory life imprisonment.

Sentencing (February 16, 2011)

• Sentence: 405 months (33 years and 9 months) in federal prison
• Restitution: $550,000 ordered to be paid to victims
• Supervised Release: Five years of supervised release following imprisonment
• Current Status: Incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution in Terre Haute, Indiana (Register Number: 70636-054)

Court’s Rationale:

• Sentence was nearly the maximum allowed under the plea agreement.
• Balanced Muse’s difficult background against the severity and terror inflicted on victims.
• U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated: “For five days that must have seemed like an eternity to his victims, Abduwali Abukhadir Muse terrorized the crew of the Maersk Alabama. Now he will pay for those five days and the events leading up to them.”

9. Legal Reasoning / Ratio Decidendi

Universal Jurisdiction Over Piracy

• The court affirmed that piracy is the original universal jurisdiction crime.
• Any nation may prosecute pirates who commit crimes on the high seas, regardless of the nationality of the offender, victim, or vessel.
• The United States had clear jurisdiction to prosecute Muse despite all parties being non-U.S. nationals (except the flag of the vessel).

Application of Historic Piracy Statutes

• The case successfully applied 19th-century maritime piracy laws to modern piracy.
• While the piracy charge (18 U.S.C. §1651) was ultimately dropped in the plea agreement, the court’s acceptance of the charge demonstrated its continued validity.
• The last piracy case before this was decided in 1885 (Ambrose Light case).
• A more recent precedent, United States v. Shi (2008), involved maritime violence and hostage-taking.

Age Determination Standards

• Court applied traditional standards for age determination when documentary evidence is unavailable or disputed.
• Gave weight to defendant’s own statements suggesting older age.

• Rejected defense claims of juvenile status based on parental testimony from Somalia.

Proportionality in Sentencing

• While the mandatory life sentence for piracy was avoided through plea bargaining, the 33+ year sentence reflected:
  • Gravity of terrorizing international maritime commerce
  • Duration and psychological impact of hostage-taking
  • Multiple victims across multiple incidents
  • Need for deterrence given the surge in Somali piracy (2005-2009)

State Responsibility for Piracy Prosecution

• Case established a precedent for how the U.S. would handle modern piracy cases.
• Demonstrated willingness to prosecute pirates domestically after Kenya and other regional states withdrew from handling piracy cases.
• Set benchmark for coordination between military (Navy SEAL rescue operation) and civilian criminal justice system.

10. Conclusion / Observations

Legal Significance

• First modern U.S. piracy prosecution in over a century, successfully applying historic maritime law to contemporary international crime.
• Established judicial framework for prosecuting Somali pirates in U.S. federal courts.
• Demonstrated U.S. commitment to combating maritime piracy through domestic criminal prosecution rather than military tribunals.
• Set sentencing precedent for similar cases, with Muse receiving one of the longest sentences imposed on any Somali pirate globally.

Impact on International Counter-Piracy Efforts

• The case contributed to broader international efforts to combat Somali piracy.
• Combined with enhanced naval patrols and updated maritime security measures, piracy incidents off Somalia dropped dramatically after 2009-2012.
• By 2014, successful Somali pirate attacks had been reduced to zero.

Human Rights and Contextual Considerations

• The case highlighted complex questions about poverty, failed states, and economic drivers of piracy.
• Raised ongoing debates about appropriate punishment balancing individual culpability with systemic factors.
• Muse’s background in a failed state with no economic opportunities presented difficult sentencing considerations.

Cultural Impact

• The hijacking was immortalized in the 2013 film Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks as the captain and Somali-American actor Barkhad Abdi as Muse.
• Abdi won a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for an Academy Award.
• The film brought international attention to both the heroism of merchant mariners and the humanitarian crisis in Somalia.