Seward Market triple homicide accomplice sentenced
A Minneapolis teenager has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in the Seward Market triple homicide last year.
Ahmed Abdi Ali, who was 17 at the time of the crime, could have received a much stiffer sentence if he hadn't agreed to cooperate with law enforcement authorities.
Ali, now 19, admitted that he and Mahdi Hassan Ali went to the market to rob it, and he pleaded guilty to three charges of aggravated attempted robbery and testified in court against Mahdi Ali.
Mahdi Ali himself was convicted of multiple counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole last month.
During the murder trial, Ahmed Ali testified that the robbery was Mahdi Ali's idea and that he was a reluctant, unarmed participant.
During his closing statement, Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Robert Streitz told jurors that the plea agreement, while distasteful, was necessary in order to prove their case.
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