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NEW YORK (AP) — The Pakistani immigrant who tried to set off a car bomb in Times Square was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison, a mandatory penalty that left him defiant as ever and the judge who sentenced him determined to send a message to anyone who might want to follow in his path.

Faisal Shahzad came to court to tell Americans he felt no remorse about his May 1 bombing attempt, and he sparred with U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum.

Cedarbaum said her sentence was very important "to protect the public from further crimes of this defendant and others who would seek to follow him."

Shahzad, 31, defended his attempt to kill Americans. During his statement before sentencing, Cedarbaum cut him off at one point to ask if he had sworn allegiance to the United States when the Pakistan-born Shahzad became a citizen last year.

"I did swear but I did not mean it," Shahzad said.

"So you took a false oath," the judge told him.

Shahzad was arrested two days after a bomb in the back of a sport utility vehicle fizzled with a mere sputter of smoke, drawing the attention of a street vendor who alerted police.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Read earlier story below.

(AP) -- Prosecutors are using a dramatic videotape of a test blast conducted by the government in Pennsylvania as evidence against the man who admitted trying to bomb Times Square.

Faisal Shahzad faces a mandatory life prison term at his sentencing Tuesday in Manhattan federal court.

Calling himself a Muslim solider, a defiant Shahzad pleaded guilty in June to 10 terrorism and weapons counts.

The Pakistani-American was arrested two days after his May 1 attempted bombing fizzled in a Times Square packed with tourists. The bomb he had packed into the back of a sports utility vehicle sputtered.

While Shahzad's bomb did not explode, FBI technicians studied his design before using it to build a working model they say demonstrated his deadly intent.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.