Federal officials review reward given in Zacarias Moussaoui case

Zacarias Moussaoui
Zacarias Moussaoui
Photo courtesy of the Sherburne County Sheriff/Getty Images

Senators Norm Coleman, Republican, and Amy Klobuchar, DFL, asked the State Department to look at its reward again to see why one man got $5 million, while two others were excluded.

Last month, the reward went to Clarence Prevost.

He was a key witness in Moussaoui's trial in 2006, a trial that found Moussaoui guilty of furthering the September 11th plot.

Prevost testified that he urged his bosses at the Pan Am Flight Academy in Minnesota to call the FBI about Moussaoui a month before the attacks.

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The reward stunned two flight instructors who also alerted the FBI.

The Senate even honored Tim Nelson and Hugh Sims for their "bravery" and "heroism," but the men received no reward.

Republican Senator Norm Coleman said he thinks the problem stems from the committee that reviews potential reward winners.

He said they did a good job of finding Prevost worthy of the reward, but they didn't dig any deeper.

"What they didn't do is go back and take a look at the case file the FBI had to ask the question "Was there anyone else involved in bringing Moussaoui to the attention of authorties?'," said Norman.

Coleman said he left the meeting with the understanding that review would happen.