Man On 'Jihad' Sentenced To Life Without Parole On Terrorism, Murder Charges In Killing Of Brendan Tevlin

NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) — A man who says he was on a "jihad" to avenge U.S. policy in the Middle East was sentenced to life without parole for killing a New Jersey college student.

Ali Muhammad Brown, 33, was sentenced on Tuesday in Newark.

In a rambling statement, Brown apologized to the family in court before adding he does not regret his actions.

"I would like to say that I apologize to his parents and I apologize to those who are close to him and those who love him and respect him and honor him," Brown said. "I appreciate the things I did even though it hurt people I don't regret anything because it made me who I am today."

Brown has admitted shooting 19-year-old Brendan Tevlin in 2014 as Tevlin sat in his car at a traffic light in West Orange, a few miles from Newark.

Brown also has acknowledged killing three men in Washington state.

Friends and family gave tearfilled pleas before the packed courtroom, asking the judge send Brown to prison for the rest of his life.

"I'm just going to move off script for a minute just to comment on what I heard this morning," Brendan's grandfather Tom Tevlin, Sr. said, setting aside remarks he had prepared for the court. "The defendant say with empty apologies and that he doesn't regret what happened. That says it all."

"None of us knows how far Brendan would've gone with his life or if his dreams would've come true. But all of us in the Tevlin and McNulty family know he would be a big success, helping those less fortunate," Tevlin, Sr. said. "My God says forgive those who trespass against us. I am nowhere there as of today. And only my God knows if ever I'll be there. But I do know there is big hole in the hearts of the Tevlin and McNulty families."

"I was naive to believe that there was nothing that could cause enough pain and desolation to break a person's heart," Brendan's sister Michaela Tevlin said. "I assumed this pain would lessen after that summer my brother died. I thought the moment after I finished giving his eulogy to over 1,000 people at his funeral that life would move forward and somehow return to the way things were before. Inevitably, life did move forward, but not the way I wanted it to, because when Brendan's life ended did, a part of mine of did as well."

"Even my happiest moments have never and will never be complete because Brendan will not be there," she said.

"Nobody could ever know the depth of the pain that one goes through when they lose child," Brendan's mother Allison Tevlin said. "It's something you never get over. It's the first thing you think about when you wake up, the last thing you think about before you go to sleep."

Allison remembered her son as a "sincere good soul" and an "amazing son."

"We are so grateful that this monster will be locked up forever with no chance of parole. He doesn't deserve to see the light of day ever again. In fact, I don't believe he deserves to have any type of human interaction for the rest of his life because of the many lives he has ruined with his 'mistake.' He also does not deserve the respect of anyone," Allison Tevlin said.

"I have been a judge for over eight years and this clearly is one of the most if not the most heinous, horrific, brutal crimes that I have ever presided over. And I harken to say that in all my years prior to getting on the bench I've never been involved in a case with this kind of brutality," judge Ronald Wigler said. "Your callous, ruthless, barbaric behavior is truly more akin to the actions of a monster rather than a human being."

"You will no longer be a danger to anyone else in this country," Wigler said.

Brown did not react after being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In total, Brown was sentenced to three concurrent life sentences for the terrorism and murder charges, plus an additional 60 years for the carjacking, armed robbery and weapons charges.

The former Seattle resident pleaded guilty in March to multiple charges, including murder, robbery and terrorism. He was the first person charged with terrorism connected to a homicide under New Jersey's terrorism statute, which encompasses a range of violent crimes including murder as long as the intent was "to promote an act of terror." The law is different from most federal terrorism laws, which target crimes actively directed by a terrorist organization.

He has yet to make a plea in the Washington cases.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)