A Chronology of the Case Against U.S. Talib John Walker Lindh

Events leading up to John Walker Lindh’s guilty plea on two charges in a surprise deal with prosecutors:

Nov. 25: Lindh is interrogated by CIA agent Johnny Micheal Spann at a prison in northern Afghanistan. Spann was killed shortly afterward in a prison uprising.

Dec. 1: Lindh is taken into custody by Northern Alliance forces in Mazar-i-Sharif after the uprising by Taliban prisoners. He had been shot in the thigh. He was turned over to the U.S. later that day.

Dec. 2: In an interview with a freelance journalist working for CNN, Lindh discusses how and why he joined the Taliban and says his “heart became attached to the [Taliban] movement.”

Dec. 7: Lindh arrives at a U.S. Marine base outside Kandahar, where he is questioned by FBI agents.

Dec. 14: Lindh is transferred to the Peleliu, an amphibious landing ship in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Pakistan. He undergoes surgery to remove the bullet in his leg.

Jan. 24: Lindh makes his first appearance in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., after being flown to the United States. A criminal complaint lists four charges, including conspiracy to kill his fellow Americans in Afghanistan.

Feb. 5: A federal grand jury indicts Lindh on 10 counts, alleging he was trained by Osama bin Laden’s network and then conspired with the Taliban to kill Americans.

Feb. 13: Lindh pleads not guilty to a 10-count federal indictment that charged him with conspiring to kill Americans and aiding Bin Laden’s network. His attorney serves notice that the defense team will try to keep the statements he made in Afghanistan from being used at his trial.

March 22: Lindh’s lawyers contend that he spoke with the FBI in Afghanistan only to escape horrible prison conditions. They ask that the potentially incriminating statements be barred from his trial.

July 15: Lindh pleads guilty to two charges in a deal with prosecutors in which he would serve two 10-year prison sentences and cooperate fully with U.S. authorities in the investigation of Al Qaeda and terrorism.