Nouakchott, Mauritania (CNN) -- A man convicted in the 2009 murder of American teacher Christopher Leggett has been sentenced to death, the Mauritanian Information Agency announced.
The criminal court in the capital, Nouakchott, made the ruling late Tuesday against Mohamed Abdallahi Ould Mohamed Salem Ould Ahmednah, the agency said. Two others convicted in the killing -- Didi Ould Bezeid and Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Khouna -- were sentenced to 12- and 5-year prison terms, respectively, as well as 5 million ouguiya ($17,600) and 3 million ouguiya ($10,560) in fines.
Leggett was shot June 23, 2009, in a kidnapping attempt in a poor neighborhood in the capital.
Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility for the murder, describing the act as "holy jihad."
The man sentenced to death in the case was arrested a month after the shooting, police said, wearing an explosive belt and carrying a handgun.
According to his hometown newspaper in Tennessee, The Cleveland Daily Banner, Leggett, 39, had been living in Mauritania for six years, doing humanitarian work and teaching at a computer science school.
In a statement to The Cleveland Daily Banner Wednesday, Leggett's father expressed the family's "deep appreciation to everyone for the many expressions of love and caring that we have received since the murder of our son, husband, father and brother, Christopher Leggett 90 weeks ago."
"We have in the past expressed on several occasions our appreciation to the government of Mauritania for their efforts in apprehending those involved in the murder of Christopher, and our confidence that they would administer appropriate justice," the family statement said.
CREATE: CNN
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