Three men who jumped with parachutes from the top of One World Trade Center in New York have been convicted of criminal charges.



Their leap from the top of the 104-storey building was partly caught on security video that showed at least two figures in black suits and helmets floating down beneath open parachutes and landing on the streets of lower Manhattan, one of their defence attorneys said.

A supreme court jury in Manhattan deliberated over the course of four days before reaching a verdict in the trial of James Brady, 33, Andrew Rossig, 34, and Marko Markovich, 28, who live in the New York City suburbs.

They were cleared of the most serious charge – burglary, a felony – but were convicted of three misdemeanour charges of reckless endangerment in the second degree, reckless endangerment of property and unauthorised climbing, jumping and hanging from a structure.

Twice during deliberations the jury told Judge Juan Merchan it was deadlocked but both times the judge ordered the panel to keep working.

The three face up to a year behind bars. They are to be sentenced in August.

The skyscraper stands where more than 2,700 people perished when hijacked planes crashed into the twin towers on 11 September 2001. It was still under construction when the jumpers pulled off their stunt on 30 September 2013.



The men snuck through a gap in the construction fence, prosecutors said, then made their way up and jumped from nearly a quarter of a mile above the ground.

Marko Markovich’s jump from the One World Trade Center. Link to this video

“Today a jury found their stunt to be reckless and illegal,” Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance said. But Rossig’s attorney, Timothy Parlatore, said: “The district attorney’s office has wasted a significant amount of time and a significant amount of taxpayer’s dollars to turn a misdemeanour case into a felony.”