SEATTLE — An Algerian who plotted to bomb the Los Angeles airport on the eve of the millennium was sentenced to 22 years in prison yesterday by a judge who used the opportunity to sternly criticize the Bush administration’s anti-terrorism tactics.

“We did not need to use a secret military tribunal, detain the defendant indefinitely as an enemy combatant or deny the defendant the right to counsel,” U.S. District Judge John Coughenour said. “The message to the world from today’s sentencing is that our courts have not abandoned our commitment to the ideals that set our nation apart.”

The sentence against Ahmed Ressam was significantly lower than the 35 years recommended by prosecutors, but it could have been even shorter had Ressam agreed to testify against two of his alleged co-conspirators.

Ressam, 38, cooperated with the government for about two years, but had quit by 2003, claiming the many months of solitary confinement had taken their toll on his mental state.

Ressam was arrested in Port Angeles in December 1999 as he drove off a ferry from British Columbia with 124 pounds of bomb-making materials. Ressam had a one-night reservation for a hotel in Seattle, prompting the mayor to cancel New Year’s Eve celebrations at the Space Needle.

After being convicted of terrorist conspiracy and explosives charges at his 2001 trial, Ressam began cooperating in hopes of winning a reduced sentence. He told investigators from several countries about the operation of terrorist camps and disclosed the identities of potential terrorists, the use of safe houses, and other details.

Ressam’s information was given to anti-terrorism field agents around the world — in one case, helping to prevent the mishandling and potential detonation of the shoe bomb that Richard Reid attempted to blow up aboard an American Airlines flight in December 2001.

“It is a flat fact that law enforcement, the public, and public safety have benefited in countless ways” from Ressam’s cooperation, defense lawyer Thomas Hillier said.

American prosecutors insist that without Ressam’s help, they will have to drop charges against alleged co-conspirators Samir Ait Mohamed and Abu Doha, who has been described as a terrorist recruiter. U.S. Attorney John McKay said that aside from immigration violations, he did not know what charges officials in Europe or Canada might pursue against them.

“It means that two other individuals who we believe to be dangerous will not be prosecuted in this country,” he said.

Ressam did not speak in court, but provided a short written statement in which he thanked the judge, renounced violence of any kind, and apologized for his actions, Mr. Hillier said.

The sentencing hearing may be best remembered for the judge’s strong remarks against the Bush administration’s efforts to hold some terrorism suspects indefinitely without charges.

“The tragedy of September 11 shook our sense of security and made us realize that we, too, are vulnerable to acts of terrorism,” Judge Coughenour said. “Unfortunately, some believe that this threat renders our Constitution obsolete … If that view is allowed to prevail, the terrorists will have won.”

During the hearing, the judge unexpectedly called Andy Hamilton, a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted Ressam at trial, from the courtroom gallery to give a sentencing recommendation.

After noting that Ressam’s sentence would be “perhaps the most important sentence this court has ever had,” Mr. Hamilton told the judge that Ressam’s reluctance to cooperate should weigh heavily. “You can’t be a cooperator and a terrorist,” he said. “When he stopped cooperating, he went back to being what he was.”

With credit for time served and three years off for good behavior, Ressam could be out of prison in 14 years.