2 more Somalis enter guilty pleas in piracy case

NORFOLK, Va. – Two more Somali men pleaded guilty Tuesday to piracy charges for roles in the February hijacking of a yacht off Africa that left four Americans dead.

Abdi Jama Aqid and Said Abdi Fooley brough to seven the number of Somalis who pleaded guilty this week in connection with the hijacking of the yacht Quest. They face mandatory life terms at sentencing in August and September, but could see their sentences reduced under plea deals they reached.

Quest's owners, Jean and Scott Adam of Marina del Rey, Calif., along with friends Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay of Seattle, were shot to death after being taken hostage several hundred miles south of Oman as American war ships shadowed their yacht.

Prosecutors don't believe any of the seven who pleaded guilty shot the Americans.