A Manhattan federal jury began deliberations Monday in the high-profile case of a Brooklyn man caught on video detonating a pipe bomb last year in a crowded tunnel connecting the Port Authority Bus Terminal and Times Square.
The evidence against Akayed Ullah, 28, has been so overwhelming that even his defense lawyers admit he detonated the bomb. But they argued that he did it out of depression, not for ISIS, and that he planned to kill only himself.
Ullah faces five to 20 years in prison if the jury buys the defense and convicts him of a single act of destroying public property with an explosive device. He faces multiple life sentences if convicted on all counts.
His lawyers on Monday showed the jury shots of the video surveillance showing Ullah detonating the bomb, pointing out that the device exploded just as the morning rush-hour crowd around him dissipated.
“If harming anyone other than himself was his intention, he missed the perfect opportunity,” defense lawyer Amy Gallicchio said in closing arguments.
Prosecutors argued that this was dumb luck.
Deliberations continue Tuesday.