Eyad Ismoil

Eyad Ismoil (Arabic: اياد اسماعيل‎), also transliterated as Eyad Ismail[1] (born circa 1971), is a Jordanian citizen who, for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was convicted by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York of conspiracy in 1997.

Eyad Ismoil
Born (1971-06-08) June 8, 1971
Jordan
OccupationEngineering student
Criminal statusIncarcerated at United States Penitentiary, Lee in Pennington Gap, Virginia
Conviction(s)Conspiracy
Criminal penalty240-year prison term

Early life

Born in Jordan, Ismoil attended high school in Jordan. He entered the United States in 1989 on a student visa to study engineering at Wichita State University, where he enrolled at the Intensive English Language Center to study English as a second language.[2] Ismoil overstayed his visa[3][4] and moved to Dallas, Texas. In December 1992, he was contacted by Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, with whom he re-located to New York City on February 22, 1993 to begin preparing for the attack.[1]

World Trade Center bombing

On February 26, 1993, Ismoil, accompanied by Yousef, drove a van packed with explosives into the parking garage below the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York. The van exploded at 12:18 p.m., killing six people, causing numerous injuries, and inflicting an estimated five hundred million dollars' worth of damage to the WTC.[1] Ismoil fled the United States that night,[5] as did Yousef, on a separate flight.[6]

In August 1995, Ismoil was captured by Jordanian authorities in Amman and extradited to the United States to stand trial in New York for his role in the bombing.

According to Ismoil's attorney, Louis Aidala, Ismoil was tricked into cooperating with the others, and had in fact loaded the explosives into the van, thinking they were cleaning supplies. However, prosecutor David Kelly noted the fingerprints of both men which had been found in a Jersey City, New Jersey apartment where the bomb had been manufactured, telephone records, and automatic teller machine surveillance videos linking both Ismoil and Yousef to the purchase of chemicals used to create explosives.[7]

On November 12, 1997, Ismoil, Yousef, and several other co-defendants were found guilty of conspiracy.[2]

On April 3, 1998, Ismoil was sentenced to 240 years in prison, fined $250,000, and ordered to pay $10,000,000 in restitution. Throughout the trial, Ismoil continued to maintain his innocence, saying:

"Jail me and you will add one number to the wrong list. But don't think that you will ever rest because tyrants always end up in trouble."[2]

[8]

Notes
  1. United States v. Salameh, Docket Nos. 98-1041, 98-1197, 98-1355, 99-1544, 99-1554 (United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit April 4, 2005).
  2. "Last World Trade Center bombing conspirator sentenced — Eyad Ismoil gets 240 years, $10 million fine". CNN. April 3, 1998. Retrieved 2007-05-21.
  3. Suhler, Jayne Noble; Timms, Ed (September 20, 1998). "Security worries putting spotlight on student visas". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on May 12, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-21.
  4. Suhler, Jayne Noble; Timms, Ed (November 8, 1998). "Cases highlight flaws in federal visa system". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on May 12, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-21.
  5. Freeh, Louis J. (March 12, 1996). "Statement before the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Foreign Operations". Retrieved 2007-05-21.
  6. "World Trade Center trial delayed". CNN. August 4, 1997. Retrieved 2007-05-21.
  7. "Bombing suspect 'no mental giant,' his lawyer says". CNN. November 4, 1997. Archived from the original on 2006-03-12. Retrieved 2007-05-21.
  8. "Inmate Locator". U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved 2007-05-21.
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