Judge: NJ Terror Case Not Influenced By Boston

A federal judge has refused to reconsider the prison terms of two New Jersey men who argued that prosecutors and the courts were improperly influenced by the Boston Marathon bombings.

U.S. District Judge Dickinson Debevoise in Newark rejected a motion by attorneys for Mohamed Alessa and Carlos Almonte to have their sentences reconsidered.

Both men were sentenced April 15, the day of the Boston bombings, to 22 and 20 years respectively. They each pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges.

Their attorneys claimed prosecutors learned of the bombings during the sentencing hearing and altered their argument to the judge without giving the defendants a chance to ask for a postponement.

Debevoise rejected those arguments in a decision released Tuesday, finding the defense did not present an accurate sequence of events.

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