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Amir Abdillah, 34, on Monday received a relatively lenient eight-year prison term from the South Jakarta District Court, which found him guilty of terrorist acts over his role in last year’s twin hotel bombings in Jakarta and a failed conspiracy to assassinate the president.

Amir is the first suspect arrested for the suicide bomb attacks on the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels last July 17 that killed seven people and injured more than 50.

He was once a driver for the late high-profile terrorist Noordin M Top, who is believed to have been behind a string of bombings in the country since 2002.

Amir told the court he accepted the sentence, which was lighter than the 10 years sought by prosecutors, and far from the maximum penalty of death allowed by the Anti-Terror Law.

“I will serve out my term. I don’t know anything about the law,” he told reporters when asked if he believed the court had gone easy on him.

The court convicted him on five counts under the terror law, including carrying out an attack, plotting an attack, illegal possession of explosives and firearms, conspiracy to carry out an attack, and concealing and abetting a known fugitive.

“The crimes are inexcusable,” said the presiding judge, Sudarwin. “He spread terror among the people, caused the loss of lives and damage to property, and hampered efforts to combat terrorism.”

However, the judge also cited Amir’s cooperation in allowing for a lighter sentence.

“The defendant acted politely, admitted his wrongdoings and has shown remorse,” Sudarwin said.

“He has helped uncover facts about terrorism which have proven very helpful for the authorities. And this is his first criminal offense,” the judge added.

Amir said he accepted guilt for concealing a fugitive, but was adamant that the other charges against him should not have been laid by prosecutors.

He claimed he had been told the explosive materials he was ferrying were actually “cake ingredients,” and he was unaware that he was driving for Noordin.

On the morning of the bombings, Amir drove Saefudin Zuhri, who is believed to have coordinated the attacks on the ground, around the vicinity of the hotels while Saefudin “encouraged and instructed one of the two suicide bombers [on their job],” the verdict read.

“After Dani Dwi Permana blew himself up inside the Marriott, Saefudin yelled out ‘Allahu Akbar’ [God is great], which the defendant repeated,” the verdict continued. “He also shouted ‘Alhamdulillah’ [praise be to God] with joy and emotion.”

Amir was also found guilty of involvement in a plan to carry out an attack on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s motorcade. “The defendant was tasked with monitoring the president’s motorcade route” to and from his private residence in Cikeas, Bogor, the court said.

The court added that the group had rigged a minivan with explosives in preparation for the event. One of its members, Ibrohim, was to be the designated driver.

The attack was thwarted after police raided the group’s hideout in Bekasi, east of Jakarta, and another house in Temanggung, Central Java, where Ibrohim was subsequently killed in a hail of gunfire.