MANHATTAN — The three men who released video of their BASE jump from the top of One World Trade Center were found guilty of reckless endangerment Monday but not convicted on the felony charges they faced, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
James Brady, 33, Marko Markovich, 28, and Andrew Rossig, 34, made the jump from 104 flights up at about 3 a.m. on Sept. 30, 2013, but were not arrested until the following March.
“In the nearly two years since this BASE jump occurred, the three men who parachuted off One World Trade Center have yet to acknowledge the dangerousness or cost of their actions,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement.
“The defendants took pride in their perceived accomplishment, and seemed to relish evasion of authorities. Today, a jury found their stunt to be reckless and illegal.”
A lawyer for Rossig said the men never denied leaping from the building and were hit with felony burglary charges because of politics.
"The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has probably wasted over half a million dollars in taxpayer money because they wanted to pursue a politically motivated felony charge that has no basis in the law or in fact," lawyer Timothy Parlatore told DNAinfo New York.
"This verdict shows that the jury has rejected that attempt, and I am stunned that the DA would even attempt to spin this as a win."
Brady was employed as an ironworker at the construction site and was able to hide the jumpers' equipment in the building.
Helmet camera footage shows Markovich leap from the building before landing in a park near the Hudson River.
The men were convicted of reckless endangerment, BASE jumping and reckless endangerment of property.
They face up to one year in prison on the top charge.
Brady and Rossig are expected to be sentenced on Aug. 10 in New York State Supreme Court and Markovich on Aug. 17.
