A West Boca doctor who was convicted Monday of providing material support to al-Qaida terrorists remained silent as the guilty verdict was read.

Later, Dr. Rafiq Abdus Sabir, 52, waved to supporters who urged him to "stay strong" as he was escorted from U.S. District Court in New York City.

 "We're deeply disappointed in the verdict," said Ed Wilford, Sabir's attorney.

Federal prosecutors leveled charges against Sabir in 2005, accusing him of supporting terrorists after he agreed to treat injured al-Qaida fighters in Iraq so they could continue to fight American soldiers.

"I'm glad the wheels of justice did their job," said Dan Kozan, one of Sabir's former neighbors from West Boca.

Authorities raided Sabir's home, in a gated community west of Boca Raton, in May 2005 and arrested him after what a friend described as a weekend meant to be a memorable and festive family gathering.

Sabir was at the home with his wife, his stepdaughter and his two children from a previous marriage. They had dinner and stayed up late watching television before the authorities arrived.

Sabir had moved into the Villa San Remo community when he arrived in Palm Beach County and found work as an emergency room physician at Glades General Hospital in Belle Glade. He also worked at a military base in Saudi Arabia and had planned to fly there before his arrest. His family was to have joined him in a month.

But long before that trip was scheduled, the FBI began investigating Sabir's good friend, a martial arts instructor and jazz musician named Tarik Shah.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, both Shah and Sabir conspired to provide martial arts training and medical help to al-Qaida through a man they thought was a terrorist recruiter.

The recruiter was actually an undercover FBI agent who recorded several of their conversations, including a May 2005 ceremony in a Bronx apartment where the government said the men pledged their loyalty to al-Qaida and to Osama bin Laden.

According to the complaint filed in federal court, Shah told the recruiter that he and Sabir were a "package" deal.

Sabir, meanwhile, testified in court that Shah never told him he was talking with an al-Qaida recruiter and that al-Qaida was mispronounced several times. Sabir also testified that he was unaware that "Sheik Osama" was a reference to bin Laden.

Juror Jeffrey Ellsworth said he decided Sabir was guilty after he played Sabir in a jury room re-enactment of Sabir's pledging ceremony.

He said Sabir's guilt became clear to him when he realized the doctor said "al-Qaida" near the end of the transcript after others said it more than a dozen times.

Sabir faces a maximum of 30 years imprisonment, a maximum $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. He will be sentenced Sept. 12. Shah pleaded guilty just before trial to providing material support to a terrorist organization. He also agreed to serve 15 years in prison but has not been sentenced formally.

A Brooklyn bookstore owner who pleaded guilty was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment and a Washington, D.C., cab driver who also pleaded guilty received 15 years in prison.

Sabir, who came from a large Catholic family, became interested in Islam during his high school days when he lived in a group home.

He earned a pre-med degree from City College of New York and his medical degree from Columbia University in 1981. During the next 11 years, he worked as an emergency room doctor in a dozen New York hospitals.

For a time, Sabir worked out of a storefront office in Harlem and gave free care to whoever couldn't afford it.

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