LeMare Mason, a Northwest flight attendant who put out the flames when Abdulmutallab's bomb fizzled in his underwear, told Edmunds that his life has changed.
"I had a dream job traveling the world," he said. "This man has stolen and robbed me of the pleasure of going to work."
He said he wakes up in night sweats because of the incident and has been in therapy since the incident.
"His intentions were to end our lives," he said.
Shama Chopra, a passenger from Montreal and mother of two, said she has had to overcome the fear of flying since the incident.
"As a mother, I feel for you," she said. "But you had no right to take my life.
"Today is your turn and justice will be served," she said as Abdulmutallab fidgeted with paper at the defense table.
Before leaving the podium, she gave Abdulmutallab's standby defense lawyer, Anthony Chambers, a rosary to give to his client.
Kurt Haskell, a Michigan lawyer, said his life also has changed, but said he still believes a federal agent gave Abdulmutallab a defective bomb to carry onto the plane to create an incident that would cause the government to install full body scanners at airports nationwide.
"Regardless of how media and government try to shape this case, I am convinced that Umar was given an intentionally defective bomb by a U.S. agent," Haskell told Edmunds. "It really saddens me that the government won't admit its role in the event. Because of this case, I will never trust anything the government says, ever."
Haskell then turned to Abdulmutallab and said: "Umar, you are not a Muslim martyr. You are merely a government patsy."
He and his wife, Lori, who also spoke, urged Edmunds to impose the maximum sentence.
Abdulmutallab, for his part, told Edmunds: "The Mujahedeen are proud to kill in the name of God and this is exactly what God told us to do in the Koran. The situation of one who believes in Allah is always good it's always a win-win situation."
The defendant laid into the U.S. government for oppressing Muslims worldwide and for federal prosecutors in Detroit for misquoting and misrepresenting the facts of the case "to achieve their evil goals."
Then, responding to Haskell, Abdulmutallab said: "I am not a government paddy."
During his 3-minute speech, Abdulmutallab said Osama bin Laden, whom U.S. forces killed in an attack on his home in Pakistan last year, and Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born al-Qaida leader who sent him on his mission, are still alive. Al-Awlaki was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen last year.
Edmunds imposed four life prison sentences on Abdulmutallab.
He pleaded guilty on the second day of trial testimony in October to eight counts, including conspiring to commit an act of terrorism, use of a weapon of mass destruction and carrying a firearm or destructive device during a crime of violence.
Chambers said Abdulmutallab, who has 10 days to appeal the sentence, probably will serve the sentence at the federal super-max prison in Florence, Colo., where other convicted terrorists are doing time.
Chambers, released a statement from Abdulmutallab's family.
"We are grateful to God that the unfortunate incident that day did not result in any injury or death," the family said. "We pray for a more peaceful world and hope that all well-meaning persons, institutions and nations will work to establish to world peace."
The family also asked the Department of Justice to intervene on their son's behalf.
"We strongly appeal to the American justice department to review the life sentence," it said.
Chambers said Abdulmutallab plans to appeal the sentences on his own.
He said Abdulmutallab's mother, father and seven siblings were in Detroit on Thursday, but didn't attend the sentencing, because of security reasons.
"They are extremely supportive of him, they are very distraught," Chambers said after the sentencing. He said they are fearful they may never be allowed to visit him.
Chambers said his client remains strong and upbeat: "There were no surprises for him."
U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade, who attended the sentencing, told the Detroit Free Press afterward that the case shows that terrorists can be tried in civil courts, contrary to critics who said early on that Abdulmutallab should have been tried by a military tribunal.
"The civil court system worked extremely well in this case," she said. "There was no torture required to get his confession. The words came out of his own mouth. You heard it in open court."
During the sentencing hearing, Chambers and prosecutors acknowledged that they worked on a plea deal early on in the case, but it fell apart for reasons they didn't explain.
Chambers said that, had Abdulmutallab allowed him to serve as a full-fledged lawyer rather than standby counsel, he could have gotten him more favorable treatment at sentencing.
He also said of his client: "He is a very misguided young man. I think he's a very impressionable young man who got messed up with the wrong people."
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