Conviction of 'Millennium Bomber' upheld

WASHINGTON, May 19 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of Ahmed Ressam for smuggling explosives into the United States to blow up Los Angeles International Airport.

Ressam, an Algerian native dubbed the "Millennium Bomber," was sentenced to 22 years in prison for the plot to set off explosives at the airport on New Year's Eve 1999. He attempted to enter the United States under the name Benni Noris.

The court voted 7-2 Monday to overturn an appellate decision to reverse part of Ressam's conviction for lying on a customs declaration as he crossed from Canada into the United States at Port Angeles.

(United States vs. Ressam, No. 07-455)