Mohammad Saaili Shibin
Yesterday, a federal judge in Virginia ordered Somali pirate Mohammad Saaili Shibin to serve 12 life sentences, 10 of which will run concurrently, while two are consecutive. Shibin was also ordered to pay $5.4 million in restitution.
Shibin, 50, has white hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He speaks several languages, including English. He has never ventured out to sea or participated in an attack on a merchant ship. His job was to negotiate. He had previously negotiated the ransom for the MV Marida Marguerite, a German ship hijacked by the pirates in 2010. When the American yacht Quest was hijacked in February 2011, Shibin researched online to determine how much the pirates would demand. Things went terribly wrong onboard the Quest, when the pirates killed the owners, Jean and Scott Adam and the crew Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay. The attacking pirates were all captured or killed by Navy SEALS. Shibin was arrested in Somalia in April, 2011.
In April of this year Shibin was found guilty of all charges related to the hijacking and murders on the yacht Quest and the hijacking of the M/V Marida Marguerite. Shibin is thought to be the highest-ranking Somali pirate ever captured, with direct connections to those who provide financing for the pirate operations.