WASHINGTON — A federal jury in Miami on Thursday convicted Jose Padilla on charges of aiding terrorist operations abroad, a verdict that follows a long legal battle that pitted the Bush administration against civil liberties groups over how terrorism suspects are detained and should be prosecuted.
Padilla, a U.S. citizen arrested with fanfare in 2002 on charges that he planned to set off a radioactive "dirty bomb" in this country, was never tried on those charges. Instead, his case was combined with that of two other defendants accused of, among other things, conspiracy to murder, kidnap and maim people abroad and providing material support for terrorism.
The conviction of Padilla, 36, and two codefendants was a boost for an administration that had received sharp criticism for holding Padilla as an "enemy combatant" for 3 1/2 years without due process until the courts insisted he be charged with a crime or set free.
The three men were found guilty of all criminal charges against them. They were accused of being part of a North American support cell that operated in U.S. cities and in Canada and was designed to send money, other assets and fighters to Islamic extremists overseas.
Key government evidence was a "mujahedin data form" that Padilla filled out to join a Muslim extremist organization, as well as a statement he made embracing Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network.
"We are so pleased with the verdict," said acting Deputy Atty. Gen. Craig S. Morford. "Frankly, America is a better place today."
U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke set sentencing for Dec. 5. Padilla faces life in prison without parole.
Attorneys for Padilla, who maintained that the government did not prove its case, did not call any witnesses in his defense.
Padilla's mother, Estela Lebron, said he would appeal. "My son would not hurt anyone," she said. "He wanted to go there and learn his religion and the language. That is all."
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Padilla grew up in Chicago under difficult circumstances and had an arrest record as a youth. He eventually moved to Florida, where he served nearly a year in jail after a road-rage incident. He was married briefly, and, in 1992, began exploring Islam. He changed his name to Abdullah al Muhajir.
