On October 31, 2017 eight people were killed in lower Manhattan, in New York City. Sayfullo Saipov, then 29, was taken into custody the same day and was presented in federal court on November 1. A grand jury indicted him on 22 counts later that month, and a superseding indictment in June 2018 raised the total to 28. The prosecution described the killings as committed for the purpose of gaining entrance to the organization known as ISIS, which the indictment treated as a racketeering enterprise and which the United States has designated a foreign terrorist organization.
The case was tried before a jury in the Southern District of New York in January 2023. On January 26 the jury convicted Saipov on all 28 counts. Nine of the counts carried a possible sentence of death, and the same jury then heard a penalty phase. On March 13, 2023 it reported that it could not reach a unanimous decision, which meant that the court was required to impose life imprisonment on those counts. On May 17, 2023 the district judge sentenced him to eight consecutive life sentences, two concurrent life sentences and a consecutive term of 260 years.
Saipov was born in Uzbekistan and moved to the United States in 2010.
Eight people died in Manhattan on October 31, 2017. The prosecution's charges identified each of the eight deaths in a separate count of murder, and a further eighteen people were named in counts of attempted murder.
Saipov was arrested that day. He was brought before a magistrate judge in Manhattan on November 1, 2017, on a criminal complaint, and the case was assigned to a district judge of the Southern District of New York, who presided over all later proceedings, including the trial and the sentencing.
The United States Attorney's Office announced a 22-count indictment on November 21, 2017. Counts 1 to 8 charged murder in aid of racketeering, an offense for which the maximum penalty was life in prison or death. Counts 9 to 20 charged attempted murder in aid of racketeering, with a maximum of 10 years in prison. Count 21 charged providing and attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, with a maximum of life in prison. A final count charged a further offense, under sections 33 and 34 of Title 18 of the United States Code.
Saipov appeared in federal court in Manhattan on November 28, 2017. A court-appointed lawyer entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf. The indictment had been returned the week before and included multiple counts on which the death penalty was possible.
In June 2018 the grand jury returned a superseding indictment. The eight murder counts, the material support count and the final count carried over unchanged; the attempted-murder counts rose from 12 to 18 with six new counts. The total was 28. Saipov again pleaded not guilty.
In September 2018 the Department of Justice filed a notice that it would seek the death penalty. The notice stated that prosecutors would have to prove that Saipov intentionally killed the eight victims and intentionally inflicted serious bodily injury, and it said the offense involved substantial planning and premeditation. By that time the defense had asked prosecutors not to seek death and had offered a guilty plea in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without release.
The trial did not begin until January 2023, more than five years after the events. Delays attributed to the pandemic were a large part of that gap.
Opening statements were made in the federal courthouse in Manhattan on Monday January 9, 2023. Saipov pleaded not guilty to all 28 counts. The defense asked the jurors to acquit him of those counts and said that he had not been conspiring with the organization that the prosecution named.
The jury reached its verdicts on the eleventh day of trial, after deliberating over two days. During deliberations it sent several notes to the judge showing confusion about the charges. On Thursday January 26, 2023 it returned guilty verdicts on all 28 counts.
The counts of conviction, as set out in the prosecution's sentencing memorandum, were these. Counts 1 to 8: murder for the purpose of gaining entrance to a racketeering enterprise (ISIS), one count for each of the eight people who died. Counts 9 to 16: assault and attempted murder for the same purpose, concerning eight people. Counts 17 to 26: attempted murder for the same purpose, concerning ten people. Count 27: providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization (ISIS) resulting in death. Count 28: a further offense resulting in death, charged under sections 33 and 34 of Title 18 of the United States Code. In all, eight deaths and eighteen attempted murders were the subject of the verdicts.
The United States Attorney's Office summarized the outcome as convictions on "all 28 counts in the Indictment." Counts 1 to 8 and count 28 were the nine counts on which a sentence of death was available.
The penalty phase lasted about four weeks. The jury deliberated on the nine death-eligible counts and, on Monday March 13, 2023, informed the judge in a note that it could not reach the unanimous verdict that a death sentence requires. The United States Attorney's Office stated that the jury "was unable to reach a unanimous decision as to whether to authorize the death penalty" and that the result was "a mandatory sentence of life in prison" on all nine capital counts. The prosecution asked the judge to question each juror individually about whether further discussion could produce a verdict. The judge declined, spoke with the jury, and concluded that deliberations had ended.
The defense had urged the jury to impose life in prison and not death.
Sentencing took place on Wednesday May 17, 2023. The prosecution recommended life imprisonment. The judge imposed "eight consecutive life sentences, two concurrent life sentences, and a consecutive sentence of 260 years in prison," together with five years of supervised release. The eight consecutive life terms were for the eight murder counts; the 260 years were for the assault and attempted-murder counts; and the two concurrent life terms, which run concurrently with each other and with every other sentence, were for the material support count and the final count. The decision on restitution was left to a later order.
The sentence is served in a federal prison in the United States.
The principal contested issue at trial was the racketeering element. The defense told the jury that Saipov was not conspiring with the organization that the prosecution named, and it asked for acquittal on the racketeering counts. The jury convicted on every one of them.
The penalty phase decided only the question of death. The jury did not agree unanimously on death, and the consequence was the life sentence set by law. It did not return a verdict in favor of life.
2010: Saipov moves to the United States from Uzbekistan.
October 31, 2017: eight people are killed in lower Manhattan; Saipov is arrested the same day.
November 1, 2017: first court appearance in federal court in Manhattan.
November 21, 2017: 22-count indictment announced.
November 28, 2017: not guilty plea entered at arraignment.
June 2018: superseding indictment with 28 counts.
September 2018: notice that the Department of Justice will seek the death penalty.
January 9, 2023: trial opens in Manhattan.
January 26, 2023: guilty verdicts on all 28 counts.
March 13, 2023: jury unable to reach a unanimous decision on death; life imprisonment required on the nine capital counts.
May 17, 2023: eight consecutive life sentences, two concurrent life sentences and a consecutive 260 years.