Update 11:53 am
Abdulmutallab's stand-by attorney, Anthony Chambers, says he's "disappointed" with the guilty plea, but said he respects the defendant's wishes.
"Certainly no lawyer worth his weight in salt would recommend a plea to life without parole," Chambers said.
Chamber said he believes Abdulmutallab is misguided and impressionable. He said the young Nigerian will not cooperate with the government.
Asked why he believed Abdulmutallab decided to plead guilty, Chambers said he thinks the statement he read upon entering his guilty plea allowed him to say what he wanted, and avoid a trial. In the statement - which Chambers said Abdulmutallab wrote himself - the defendant said his actions were a reaction to U.S. support of Israel and because of the U.S. killings of Muslims around the world. He called the bomb he carried and tried to detonate on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 a "blessed weapon." He said he was guilty of violating U.S. law, but not the law of the Koran.
Abdulmutallab faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. He will be sentenced January 12.
Update 10:39 a.m.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has pled guilty to all eight charges against him.
From the Detroit News:
He pleaded guilty to eight charges after he returned from a 45-minute recess, ending the most high-profile terrorism case in the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds asked him if he wished to waive his right to a trial and plead guilty. "That's right," he said. The guilty plea marksa major victory against terrorism for the Justice Department, which was criticized by some for trying Abdulmutallab in civilian court instead of a military tribunal.
David Ashenfelter of the Detroit Free Press reports that Abdulmutallab faces 30 years to life in prison.
10:19 a.m.
The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press are reporting that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is pleading guilty on charges of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound jetliner on Christmas Day 2009.
The Detroit Free Press is live blogging the trial and reports that the judge is going over the penalties with Abdulmutallab now.
Michigan Radio's Sarah Hulett is on her way to the court and will have an update for us later.
