A Malian man involved in the murder of a U.S. diplomat in 2000 has pleaded guilty for conspiracy to murder in federal court, Department of Justice officials said on March 24.
Alhassane Ould Mohamed, 46, faces a possible 25-year sentence as part of a plea deal made with prosecutors.
Mohamed, known as Cheibani, and another man attacked U.S. embassy workers on Dec. 23, 2000 outside a restaurant in Niamey, Niger, in an effort to steal a diplomatic vehicle from William Bultemeier, the Defense Attaché Systems Operations Coordinator at the U.S. Embassy in Niamey.
An unsealed indictment said Mohamed shot Bultemeier in the chest and also shot Staff Sgt. Christopher McNeely, the Marine Detachment Commander for the U.S. Embassy in Niger at the time, who had come to the diplomat’s aid.
Related: Read the indictment
Mohamed’s co-conspirator then shot the embassy workers with an AK-47 and stole the embassy vehicle. Bultemeier died from his injuries, while McNeely survived, but continues to have lasting injuries.
Mohamed will be sentenced on April 26 in federal court in New York with a possible agreed-upon sentence of 25 years.
