WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- A distraught , sobbing Afghan Taliban member begged the court for mercy , but got none as an unmoved federal judge here Monday handed down maximum life sentences for convictions on drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges . A guard watches over a pile of burning drugs in Kabul , Afghanistan , on June 25 , 2008 . Khan Mohammed , 38 , of Nangarhar Province became the first person convicted and sentenced in the United States under a 2006 law that increased the penalty for a defendant found to be involved with terrorism and distributing illegal drugs . Mohammed , who had been extradited from Afghanistan , was convicted by a jury in May of plotting a rocket attack on U.S. military forces and Afghan civilians at Jalalabad Airfield . He also was found guilty of distributing between $ 1 million and $ 3 million worth of heroin into the United States `` to kill Americans as part of a jihad . '' Mohammed 's court-appointed lawyer , conceding that `` what he did was wrong , '' urged U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to be lenient and sentence his client to only 20 years in prison . Then the full-bearded Mohammed , dressed in an orange jailhouse jumpsuit , addressed the judge . With tears streaming down his face , and choking back his words , he begged for only one or two years . `` I have little children and a woman . They depend on me , '' Mohammed began . `` I 'm so worried about them . '' His lengthy emotional appeal went on to include his reason for selling opium . `` In my village that 's how you have to make a living . There is no house there without opium , '' he said . Justice Department prosecutor Matthew Stiglitz , however , urged the court to `` send a message of deterrence , '' and warned against `` the confluence of drug trafficking and terrorism . '' `` No , he 's not the Osama bin Laden of terrorism . No , he 's not the Pablo Escobar of the drug world , '' Stiglitz told the judge . `` But this is where the rubber meets the road . '' Bin Laden is the head of al Qaeda , while Escobar , who died in 1993 , was the most powerful of Colombian drug lords . `` Afghanistan is ground zero for opium , and an almost limitless source of funds to the Taliban , '' he argued . Kollar-Kotelly agreed fully with the prosecutors , and strongly admonished the Taliban defendant . `` You were convicted 99 percent by your own words , '' the judge declared , as she recalled how a `` courageous '' Afghan police chief wore an undercover wire to record Mohammed 's plotting . `` The fact that no one died is only because you did n't get the missiles you wanted , '' she said . `` In 2006 , you celebrated the Americans ' use of the opium . It was a jihad . You knew the damage it could cause , '' the judge continued . `` Because of your undiluted hatred for the United States , you might well have launched other attacks had you not been arrested . '' She added , `` Terrorists stand unique among criminals . Deterrence is very important here . '' Then , concluding dramatically , the judge turned directly to the defendant . `` I heard your concerns for your family but no acceptance of responsibility for your action , '' the judge said . `` Defendants often express worry for their families , but if they considered the consequences of their actions beforehand , maybe they would have acted differently . ''
Khan Mohammed convicted of plotting rocket attack , selling heroin . Mohammed the first convicted under law increasing penalties for `` narco-terrorists '' Citing his family , Mohammed cries and pleads with judge to have mercy . Judge says Mohammed had `` undiluted hatred for the United States ''