Key Sept. 11 Figures Agree to Guilty Pleas in Exchange for Life Sentences

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, along with two accomplices, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges at Guantanamo Bay. The plea deal, which avoids the death penalty, has been approved by a senior Pentagon official. All three have been in custody since 2003.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two accomplices accused of orchestrating the Sept. 11 attacks are set to plead guilty to conspiracy charges, according to reports by the New York Times citing unnamed Pentagon officials.

The plea agreement, approved by a senior Pentagon official, results in life sentences rather than the death penalty. Mohammed, an al Qaeda militant, has been in U.S. custody since 2003 along with co-conspirators Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawasawi.

Prosecutors have reached plea agreements with the men, according to a Defense Department statement released Wednesday. "In exchange for the removal of the death penalty, these three accused have agreed to plead guilty to all charged offenses," said Rear Admiral Aaron Rugh in a letter to the families of Sept. 11 victims.