NEW YORK (AP) - A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction on weapons of mass destruction charges of a New Jersey man who set off small bombs in two states.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the conviction Monday of Ahmad Khan Rahimi, who is serving a life prison sentence.

Rahimi, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Afghanistan, was sentenced in February 2018 in connection with the Sept. 17, 2016, attacks that sent shrapnel across a New York City block.

His sentencing judge has said it was a miracle nobody was killed.

The bombings triggered a two-day manhunt that ended in a shootout with police in Linden.

Earlier this month, he was convicted in a New Jersey court of multiple counts of attempted murder in the shootout.