By Jordan Heller
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A former Guantanamo Bay detainee was cleared of over 200 charges in New York on Wednesday but found guilty on one count in the 1998 Al Qaeda-led bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, 36, was the first Guantanamo Bay detainee to be tried in a civilian court. The five-week trial was the first test of the Obama administration's policy on trying terrorists in civilian court.
Ghailani was charged with conspiring with Osama bin Laden and other Al Qaeda members to kill Americans and others in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, which resulted in the deaths of 224 people, including 12 Americans, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Each of those deaths translated into one murder count against Ghailani.
Ghailani faced 285 charges, according to the New York Post, but the federal jury convicted him of only one — he was found guilty of conspiracy to destroy U.S. property, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. He faces 20 years to life in prison on that charge.
The prosecution said they had a strong case showing that Ghailani played an integral role in the bombings, but were barred by the judge from using key evidence due to the nature in which it was received, reported The New York Times.
A witness who sold Ghailani the TNT that was used in the bombings was prohibited from testifying because the government learned of the man through Ghailani's interrogation while in CIA custody, where lawyers said he was tortured, reported the paper.
Regarding statements made by Ghailani that prosecutors said amounted "to a confession," defense lawyers argued they had been coerced and were not admissible, according to the Times.
Ghailani will be sentenced on Jan. 25.
