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Appeals Panel Rules 16-Year Sentence Not Enough For Adel Daoud, Convicted In Chicago Terror Plot

CHICAGO (CBS/AP) -- Sixteen years in prison has been deemed not enough for a suburban man convicted in a plot to set off a car bomb in Chicago.

A federal appeals court tossed out the 16-year sentence for Adel Daoud, ruling the punishment was not harsh enough.

Daoud was sentenced in May 2019. Prosecutors had wanted a 40-year prison term. The defense had hoped Daoud would be released by 2021.

Among the factors that Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman had to consider was whether the FBI improperly manipulated a mentally fragile Daoud.

Coleman criticized both sides for what she described as "hyperbole" and "hysterics" during the trial. She acknowledged Daoud's childishness and mental health struggles, but said the seriousness of his crimes could not be underestimated.

Daoud was 18 when he was arrested after parking a car outside a downtown bar and pushing a button he believed would detonate a powerful bomb.

Agents supplied the fake device and made it smell like diesel fuel to convince Daoud that it was real.

The federal complaint against Daoud did not specify the bar that he targeted, though it has been reported to have been near Wells and Van Buren streets.

Daoud's case will now go back to U.S. District Court for resentencing.

(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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