A New Yorker was convicted Thursday of providing material support to Hezbollah by seeking targets in New York City for terrorist attacks.
A jury returned its verdict against Ali Kourani in a Manhattan federal court after a weeklong trial.
Kourani, 34, could face life in prison at a sentencing scheduled for September 27.
His lawyer, Alexei Schacht, said he'll appeal the verdict on the grounds that statements his client made to the FBI were made involuntarily in response to false promises of confidentiality.
"Given the fact the judge allowed in the statements, we were not surprised at the verdict," he said.
The man has been held without bail since his June 2017 arrest on charges he sought to support Hezbollah's Islamic Jihad organization.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said that Kourani surveilled terrorism targets in New York City, including John F. Kennedy International Airport and law enforcement facilities that included the building that houses the FBI.
"Ali Kourani was recruited, trained, and deployed by Hezbollah's Islamic Jihad Organization to plan and execute acts of terrorism in the United States. Kourani's chilling mission was to help procure weapons and gather intelligence about potential targets in the U.S. for future Hezbollah terrorist attacks," Berman said in a release.
Authorities said that the Lebanon-born Kourani received sophisticated military training overseas at least twice, including in 2000 at age 16. They said he was trained in the use of a rocket-propelled grenade.
Authorities said he came to the U.S. legally in 2003, eventually earning a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering in 2009 and a master's degree in business administration in 2013.
Prosecutors said Kourani was recruited by the terrorist organization after a residence belonging to his family was destroyed during the 2006 Second Lebanon War.
Kourani was convicted of providing material support to Hezbollah, which has been designated by the U.S. government as a foreign terrorist organization. He also was convicted of other terrorism, sanctions and immigration offenses.
