Chicago Man Gets 23 Years in Prison for Wrigleyville Bombing Plot

A Chicago man was sentenced today to 23 years in federal prison for placing a backpack that he thought contained a powerful explosive into a trash container near Wrigley Field.  

Sami Samir Hassoun, 25, pleaded guilty in April 2012 to one count each of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted use of an explosive device. He faced between 20 and 30 years in prison under the terms of his plea agreement.

Before accepting the deal, he would have faced a maximum life sentence.

Hassoun, a Lebanese citizen and permanent resident who formerly resided on the North Side, has remained in federal custody since he was arrested during the very early morning on Sept. 19, 2010.  

The purported bomb was actually a fake device given to him by undercover FBI agents who were investigating and monitoring Hassoun. They arrested him when they watched him drop the fake bomb in a trash can outside Sluggers World Class Sports Bar around midnight the night of a concert at Wrigley Field.

“The thought of what might have happened if it was real is horrific,” said U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman, who ordered Hassoun placed on five years of supervised release following his prison term. He also noted that Hassoun will be subject to deportation when he is released.

As a result of the undercover investigation, Hassoun never posed any actual imminent danger, but his guilty plea made clear that he intended to cause mass casualties and had rejected opportunities to walk away from the plot.  

“If the bag that Hassoun left in that Clark Street trash receptacle had contained the type of explosive device that he thought it did, the results would have been horrific,” said Gary S. Shapiro, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. “In conversation after conversation, Hassoun made clear that he was willing to bomb innocents and shoot police officers as part of a bizarre effort to destabilize the City of Chicago. And his actions demonstrated that his words were more than empty bravado.”