Amanda Lindhout kidnapper gets 15 years in prison

A Somalian man found guilty in the kidnapping of Amanda Lindhout has been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Smith handed down the sentence for Ali Omar Ader today.

READ MORE: Amanda Lindhout recounts horrors of captivity: — ‘I sometimes wake up screaming’

Smith ruled in December that Ader, a 40-year-old Somalian national, was a “willing participant” in the 2008 hostage-taking of Lindhout, who was working as a freelance journalist near Mogadishu at the time.

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The judge found much of Ader’s testimony was unbelievable and did not support his claim that he was forced into serving as a negotiator and translator on behalf of a gang which threatened to harm him and his family.

Lindhout, raised in Red Deer, Alta., and photographer Nigel Brennan of Australia were snatched by armed men while pursuing a story, the beginning of 15 months in captivity.

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The RCMP lured Ader to Canada on the pretext of signing a lucrative book-publishing deal, leading to his arrest in Ottawa in June 2015.

Ader acknowledged to undercover officers that he had received $10,000 for his role in the kidnapping.

Samir Adam, one of Ader’s lawyers, said at a March sentencing hearing that 10 to 12 years in prison would be appropriate. The Crown was seeking a term of 15 to 18 years.

In sentencing Ader to 15 years, Smith said he would receive six years’ credit for time already spent in custody.

As negotiator for the gang, Ader held many long-distance telephone conversations with Lindhout’s mother, Lorinda Stewart, who told him the family was selling possessions and scrambling to raise ransom money.

At one point Lindhout was driven at night into the desert, where a knife was held to her throat. While Ader was not present, he helped the gang connect a phone call to Stewart so she could hear her daughter’s hysterical screams.

WATCH: Lindhout recalls trauma at kidnapper’s sentencing

2:44 Lindhout recalls trauma at kidnapper’s sentencing