By Prince Moore
Jamaican-born Muslim cleric Sheikh Abdullah el-Faisal, who is accused of recruiting support for the Islamic State group was convicted on Thursday of state terrorism charges in New York City.
El Faisal was extradited from Jamaica to the US in 2020 following an undercover New York Police Department sting that went international.
He is to be sentenced next month.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office said el-Faisal was convicted in state Supreme Court in Manhattan on counts including soliciting or providing support for an act of terrorism.
Mr. Bragg's office said it was the first-ever state-level trial on terrorism charges.
New York's laws on terrorism were passed in the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001.
El-Faisal, who had previously served prison time in Britain after being convicted of incitement and stirring racial hatred and had also been deported from Kenya, was arrested in Jamaica in 2017 before being extradited to New York City in 2020.
