New US charges against accused pirates

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A federal grand jury has returned new charges against 11 Somali men accused of separate pirate attacks on Norfolk-based Navy warships, including allegations they had a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and assaulted federal officers.

The latest charges add another possible mandatory life term for five defendants accused in the April 1 pirate attack upon the USS Nicholas off the coast of Africa.

The six defendants accused in the April 10 attack on the USS Ashland face an additional charge of assault on a federal officer with a dangerous weapon, which carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison, plus other charges.

All 11 men have remained jailed in the Norfolk area since late April on charges that included piracy, which carries a mandatory life term. All entered pleas of not guilty to the previous charges.

The superseding indictment was handed up Wednesday and unsealed in U.S. District Court late Thursday. The defendants await a scheduled July 28 arraignment on the new charges in Norfolk.

Most of the new charges involve the defendants in the alleged Nicholas assault. They include accusations the men were armed with the RPG and an assault on a federal officer with a dangerous weapon.

The government declined Friday to reveal specifics about the alleged assaults involving U.S. officials on both Virginia-based ships.

An attorney for one of the Nicholas defendants labeled the new charges "piling on."

"They've taken the same basic set of circumstances and charged them multiple different ways," William J. Holmes said. He also said he was not aware of any physical assault on a federal officer in the Nicholas encounter.

An attorney for one of the Ashland defendants said he was perplexed by the assault charge. "I have no knowledge whatsoever about an assault on an officer," Robert B. Rigney said Friday.

Calls to other defendants' lawyers by The Associated Press were not immediately returned.

The Ashland defendants were captured in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia's pirate-infested coast, where the Navy ships were part of an international flotilla protecting shipping lanes.

The new indictment outlines the alleged activities of the five defendants leading up to the encounter with the Nicholas. It states the men left Somalia in a seagoing vessel with two smaller craft attached, seeking a merchant ship.

The defendants, armed with the RPG and assault weapons, launched the attack in the smaller craft believing the Nicholas was a merchant ship and fired their assault weapons, the indictment alleges. The indictment does not accuse the defendants of using the RPG.

The five were captured after an exchange of fire with the crew of the frigate, west of the Seychelles.

The new indictment includes previous charges -- piracy, attacks to plunder a vessel, assault with a dangerous weapon -- plus additional conspiracy and explosives counts.

The new charges against the six Ashland defendants include assault on a federal officer with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy counts.

Some of the Ashland defendants were seriously injured when their skiff was destroyed by 25mm rounds fired by the Navy.

Attorneys for the defendants have previously filed motions to dismiss the piracy charges, claiming the men never seized the Navy ships, and one attorney has sought to move the trial out of Norfolk because of its big military presence.

Naval Station Norfolk is the world's largest naval base.

Separate trials had previously been scheduled for September and October.

Click here to view the new indictments.