Pirate Convicted Of Attack on Navy Ship Loses Fight for Release

A Somali national convicted of piracy for attacking a US Navy ship must continue his life sentence after a federal appeals court reversed his grant of compassionate release Friday.

A lower court abused its discretion by resentencing Abdi Razaq Abshir Osman to time served, which would have resulted in his release, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled in a per curiam unpublished opinion.

"[T]he Release Order contravened our compassionate release framework and impermissibly entangled the two steps of the analysis,” the Fourth Circuit said, referring to a framework used in two rulings in 2024 and 2023 ...