PERU SENTENCES NEW YORKER TO LIFE IN PRISON

LIMA, Peru, Jan. 11— Lori Helene Berenson of New York was convicted of treason today by a secret Peruvian military court and sentenced to life in prison for aiding Marxist guerrillas who prosecutors said were planning to seize the Peruvian Congress and take hostages. The widely expected verdict was announced by the military authorities and by her lawyer six weeks after Ms. Berenson was arrested in an anti-terrorist police operation that also led to the capture of 22 other people after an all-night shootout in a Lima suburb. But the sentence came as a surprise, especially since prosecutors had requested a 30-year prison term, the minimum penalty for treason in Peru, and reflects the Government's tough policy toward insurgents. Ms. Berenson, who is being held in a detention center The widely expected verdict was announced by the military authorities and by her lawyer six weeks after Ms. Berenson was arrested in an anti-terrorist police operation that also led to the capture of 22 other people after an all-night shootout in a Lima suburb. But the sentence came as a surprise, especially since prosecutors had requested a 30-year prison term, the minimum penalty for treason in Peru, and reflects the Government's tough policy toward insurgents.