On Tuesday, after a four -week long trial, a Queens resident, Adis Medunjanin, age 34 was convicted of multiple federal terrorism charges.

Medunjanin was found guilty of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction, conspiring to commit murder of U.S. military personnel abroad, providing and conspiring to provide material support to al Qaeda, receiving military training from al Qaeda, conspiring and attempting to commit an act of terrorism transcending national boundaries, and using firearms and a destructive devices in relation to these offenses.

The defendant and his accomplices came within days of executing a plot to conduct coordinated suicide bombings in the New York City subway system in September 2009, as directed by senior al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan. When the plot was foiled, the defendant attempted to commit a terrorist attack by crashing his car on the Whitestone Expressway in an effort to kill himself and others.

In 2008, Medunjanin , along with his co-conspirators, Najibullah Zazi and Zarein Ahmedzay, attempted to travel to Afghanistan to joint the Taliban with the intent of killing American military personnel there. But, they were turned away at the Pakistan border.

They did not let that deter them in their mission, however. Within days of being barred from entering Afghanistan, the three met with an Al-Qaida facilitator, who convinced them to travel to Waziristan to undergo training.

Once in Waziristan, the three would be terrorists met with al Qaeda leaders Saleh al-Somali, then the head of al Qaeda external operations, and Rashid Rauf, a high-ranking al Qaeda operative, who explained that the three would be more useful to al Qaeda and the jihad by returning to New York and conducting terrorist attacks.

As the three continued their training in that country, they were encouraged by Al-Qaida leaders to return to the United States to conduct “martyrdom” operations and emphasized the need to hit well-known targets and maximize the number of casualties. Medunjanin, Zazi, and Ahmedzay agreed and discussed the timing of the attacks and possible target locations in Manhattan, including the subway system, Grand Central Station, the New York Stock Exchange, Times Square, and movie theaters.

Upon returning to the United States, the three continued to conspire. They decided to carry out their attacks during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, which fell in late August and September in 2009.

Using a hotel in Denver, explosive components were mixed, producing TATP (triacetone triperoxide). The FBI would later find residue from their bomb-making in the hotel rooms.

On September 8, 2009, Zazi drove from Denver to New York, carrying operational detonator explosives and other materials necessary to build bombs. However, shortly after arriving in New York, he learned that law enforcement was investigating the plotters’ activities. The men discarded the explosives and other bomb-making materials, and Zazi traveled back to Denver, where he was arrested on September 19, 2009.

On January 7, 2010, law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at Medunjanin’s residence. Shortly thereafter, Medunjanin left his apartment and attempted to turn his car into a weapon of terror by crashing it into another car at high speed on the Whitestone Expressway. Moments before impact, Medunjanin called 911, identified himself, and left his message of martyrdom, shouting an al Qaeda slogan: “We love death more than you love your life.”

A prosecutor in the case had this to say of the outcome, “Justice was served today in Brooklyn, as a jury of New Yorkers convicted an al Qaeda operative bent on terrorism, mass murder, and destruction in the New York City subways,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “Adis Medunjanin’s journey of radicalization led him from Flushing, Queens, to Peshawar, Pakistan, to the brink of a terrorist attack in New York City—and soon to a lifetime in federal prison. As this case has proved, working against sophisticated terrorist organizations and against the clock, our law enforcement and intelligence agencies can detect, disrupt and destroy terrorist cells before they strike, saving countless innocent lives.”

Medunjanin will be sentenced on September 7th of this year, he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Seven others have been convicted in this plot to carry out suicide bombings in the city of New York.