US Jury Finds Accused Taliban Fighter Guilty On All Counts

A former Soviet army officer accused of being a Taliban fighter was found guilty on all counts on Friday by a federal jury in Richmond, Virginia, a court official said.

Irek Hamidullin, 55, a former Soviet tank commander who converted to Islam, faced 15 counts ranging from supporting terrorists to firearms charges stemming from his orchestration of a 2009 attack on an Afghan Border Police base.

He was the first military prisoner from Afghanistan to be tried in U.S. federal court. The jury of seven men and five women deliberated more than eight hours before reaching their verdict.

Prosecutors portrayed Hamidullin as the mastermind of the attack whose goal was to lure U.S. troops into a trap and then pound them with heavy weapons and shoot down U.S. helicopters.

"He clearly was setting up for American forces he knew would respond," said Assistant U.S. Attorney James Gillis.

Hamidullin faces a maximum penalty of life in prison when he is sentenced on Nov. 6.