'Not very good' Saddam spy gets 4 years

[Barrett808]

Source: Associated Press

'Not very good' Saddam spy gets 4 years
By MIKE ROBINSON, Associated Press Writer

CHICAGO - A man accused of being a "sleeper agent" sent to spy on Saddam Hussein's enemies in the United States was sentenced Tuesday to four years in federal prison for lying about his ties to the former regime.

Sami Khoshaba Latchin, 61, waved to well-wishers and smiled after Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer gave him less than two-thirds of the sentence of more than six years she could have imposed under federal guidelines.

Latchin listened through a translator and nodded his head as Pallmeyer said that he "wasn't very good as a spy" and that there was no evidence he posed a genuine threat.

"He wasn't coming up with much against anybody — ever," she said, adding that he would have been in his mid-80s by the time Saddam Hussein's long-term plan for spying within the United States got up to full speed.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071127/ap_on_re_us/iraqi_trial