Moussaoui claimed he was part of a different conspiracy than the one charged in the Indictment, which he says pertained to 9/11. The court disagrees:
As an initial premise, we reject Moussaoui’s claim that the Indictment charged him only with conspiring to personally participate in the 9/11 attacks as a 9/11 hijacker. The Indictment charged Moussaoui with six conspiracy counts arising out of al Qaeda’s plan to hijack airplanes and fly them into designated targets, and the Indictment identified 110 overt acts taken by the conspirators in furtherance of that plan.
These overt acts included the actions taken by Moussaoui and the co-conspirators in preparation for such attacks and the 9/11 attacks themselves, which resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people.20 Based upon the deaths resulting from the 9/11 attacks, the Indictment also included special findings required under the FDPA to authorize the death penalty. Thus, the charged conspiracies were not agreements to carry out the
9/11 attacks specifically; the 9/11 attacks were overt acts taken after Moussaoui’s arrest by his co-conspirators in furtherance of the charged conspiracies. They also served as the basis for the Government’s decision to seek the death penalty.
...Because Moussaoui had denied specific knowledge of the 9/11 hijackers, their activities, or the details of the planes operation in the United States, the Statement of Facts contained admissions placing him in the general conspiracies to hijack planes and use them to strike prominent buildings. It did not, however, involve admissions that Moussaoui knew
the specifics of the operation, such as the precise date, the range of targets, and the identities of all the hijackers. The latter,
however, were not necessary for his conviction, nor was his guilty plea contingent upon them—a fact that had been earlier recognized by the district court and this court in published
opinions...
...The Statement of Facts adopted by Moussaoui and his representations during the plea colloquy were fully consistent with the charged conspiracies and provided an adequate factual
basis for acceptance of the plea. There was no requirement that Moussaoui personally admit to participating in the 9/11 attacks, or that he was intended to be a part of those attacks.