Prosecutors asked the judge, Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum of Federal District Court, to impose a mandatory term of life imprisonment on Mr. Shahzad, who is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday. “The premeditated attempt to kill and maim scores of unsuspecting innocent men, women and children with a homemade bomb can only be described as utterly reprehensible,” the prosecutors said.
Shahzad said, he wanted to plead guilty “100 times,” citing American military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, drone strikes and other issues. “We will be attacking U.S.,” he added, “and I plead guilty to that.”
Mr. Shahzad later told the authorities that he believed that the attack on May 1 would kill at least 40 people, having monitored his target for three months through live video feeds on the Internet, to determine which areas drew the largest crowds and when they would be busiest, the prosecutors said.
