NORFOLK, Va. – A federal judge in Norfolk has refused to vacate the life sentence of a Somali man convicted in a 2010 attack on a U.S. Navy vessel off the coast of Africa.

A judge in Norfolk issued a ruling Friday rejecting Mohamed Abdi Jama’s claims that his lawyer was ineffective.

Jama was sentenced to life in prison in 2016 for piracy.

He filed a motion last year claiming ineffective assistance of counsel.

Authorities say Jama and other Somalis approached the USS Ashland in the Gulf of Aden and opened fire with AK-47s.

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