* United States v. Abu Ali (4th Cir. Feb. 1, 2011)
As you may recall, Abu Ali originally was convicted on charges stemming from involvement with an al Qaeda cell in Saudi Arabia (including a plot to assassinate the President) and lost on his appeal of that conviction. The government had cross-appealed his original thirty-year sentence and prevailed, with the court on remand imposing a life sentence. In a per curiam, unpublished opinion released on Tuesday, a Fourth Circuit panel (Traxler, Wilkinson, and Motz) has now affirmed that life sentence.