Times Square attempted bomber gets life sentence

Faisal Shahzad 

story by AP
photo by AP/US Marshals

NEW YORK — The man who plotted to kill Americans by driving a homemade car bomb into Times Square and leaving it to explode has been sentenced to life in prison.

A federal judge gave Faisal Shahzad (FY'-sul shah-ZAHD') a mandatory life prison term at his sentencing Tuesday in Manhattan federal court. The bomb he had packed into the back of an SUV sputtered, injuring no one in a Times Square packed with tourists.

Calling himself a Muslim solider, a defiant Shahzad pleaded guilty in June to 10 terrorism and weapons counts.

Shahzad, a former budget analyst from Connecticut and a Pakistani immigrant, was arrested two days after his May 1 attempted bombing.