January 8, 1998

A jury finds Ramzi Yousef and his co-conspirators, Abdul Hakim Murad and Wali Khan Amin Shah, guilty of conspiracy for the Bojinka plot on September 5, 1996. Another jury finds Yousef and Eyad Ismoil guilty for their involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing on November 12, 1997. Given an opportunity to address the court before sentencing in January 1998, Ramzi Yousef declares, “Yes, I am a terrorist, and I am proud of it. And I support terrorism so long as it was against the United States government and against Israel.” Judge Kevin T. Duffy of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York sentences Yousef for both trials to life in prison plus 240 years, factoring in the combined life expectancies of the six people killed in the 1993 bombing.

Five of the six convicted World Trade Center bombers are still serving their sentences at a maximum-security prison in Colorado, while the sixth, Nidal Ayyad, serves in Indiana. The U.S. government considers the 1993 bombing an open case because the seventh alleged conspirator, Abdul Yasin, who fled the United States in March 1993, remains at large.