Five years after being arrested and declared an “enemy combatant,” former Chicago gang member Jose Padilla has been found guilty of supporting Islamic terrorism overseas.

Today, a federal court jury in Miami found Padilla and co-defendants Adham Hassoun and Kifan Jayyousi guilty of the three counts charged: conspiracy to commit murder, kidnap, and maim people in a foreign country; conspiracy to provide material support for terrorists; and providing material support to terrorists.

Faced with life in prison, all three defendants will be sentenced December 5.

Padilla, 36, is an American citizen originally arrested on accusations of planning to detonate radio-active “dirty bombs,” in the United States. Today’s convictions are not related to those allegations, and prosecutors did not present the “dirty bomb,” plot to the jury.

After nearly two days of deliberation the jury handed down the guilty verdict, declining to speak to the media.

Padilla was taken into custody in 2002 in Chicago after stepping off a plane from Pakistan. President George W. Bush declared Padilla an “enemy combatant” and transferred him into military custody. Never charged as an “enemy combatant” he was transferred from military to civilian custody where he was finally charged.

During the trial, the prosecution presented the jury with 70 intercepted phone calls, seven of which feature Padilla. FBI agent John Kavanaugh testified that the calls were made in code, which Padilla and others used to discuss traveling abroad to fight with Islamic militants.

Another key piece of evidence by the prosecution was an al-Qaeda terrorist training camp application form or “mujahedeen data form.”

A covert CIA officer, who testified incognito, said he was given the form in Afghanistan. According to the prosecution, a fingerprint expert later found Padilla’s prints on the paper.

Defense attorneys argued that Padilla, a Brooklyn-born convert to Islam, went overseas only to study the religion. In closing arguments, the defense argued that Padilla never spoke in code and that his voice is only heard in seven of 300,000 taped conversations.

Defense attorney Michael Caruso, also said that the prints on the “mujahedeen” form were not consistent with someone who filled it out.

Just as the prosecution did not present the jury with the “dirty bomb” plot, they also failed to mention that Padilla was held in a Navy brig for 3 and a half years without charges before his indictment in the Miami case.

The conviction is being hailed as a moral victory for the U.S. Department of Justice and its post-9/11 strategy for prosecuting terrorism cases.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, took a break from his vacation this week to issue a statement which said: “The conviction of Jose Padilla- an American who provided material support to terrorists and trained for violent jihad –is a significant victory in our efforts to fight the threat posed by terrorists and their supporters.”

According to a statement from the White House, Padilla received a “fair trial and a just verdict.”

“We commend the jury for its work in this trial and thank it for upholding a core American principle of impartial justice for all,” the statement said.

While Padilla’s attorneys have declined to comment on the outcome of the case, the attorneys of his two co-defendants have vowed to appeal saying that they were “stunned” by the conviction…

I don’t feel safer now that Jose Padilla is convicted. I’m actually more afraid which I really didn’t think was possible.

Padilla’s case is scary for a number of reasons. Not only does the prosecution’s case seem flawed, it appears that Padilla was held in violation of his rights for no legitimate reason.

And if the federal government is willing to do that to one of its own citizens, we should all be worried.

This isn’t a victory for justice; it’s a defeat. Padilla is just the latest casualty of the Bush Administration’s failed “War on Terror.”

In the amount of time it took them to prosecute Padilla, al-Qaeda has been getting steadily stronger across the globe. What a waste.

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