British judge verdict for Richard Reid - 13-year prison?

A British judge Friday imposed a 13-year prison sentence on a man who admitted conspiring with shoe-bomber Richard Reid to blow up a U.S.-bound trans-Atlantic jet in 2001.

Prosecutors said they believe British-born Saajid Badat, 25, may have backed out of an alleged plot with Reid, who was subdued by passengers when he attempted to detonate a bomb aboard an &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/usa/2001/11/12/20769.html ' target=_blank>American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami on Dec. 22, 2001.

"Turning away from crime in circumstances such as these constitutes a powerful mitigating factor," Judge Adrian Fulford said. "It can take considerable courage to plead guilty to offenses of this kind."

Badat's guilty plea in February was the first major conviction for a terrorist plot in Britain since the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.

British convicts typically are eligible for parole after serving two-thirds of their sentence, so Badat could be released in a little more than eight years, reports USA Today.

According to the Telegraph, former grammar school pupil Badat, 25, pleaded guilty in February at the Old Bailey to conspiring to blow up an aircraft between January 1, 1999 and November 28, 2003.

It was the first successful major prosecution for terrorism in Britain since the September 11 attacks in America.