Ahmed Ghailani's mother has expressed her relief at the news of her son's conviction on only one of the 286 charges that had been facing him.
Ahmed Ghailani, 36, was found guilty of conspiracy to damage or destroy US property with explosives over the August 1998 bombings of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya.
Some 212 people were killed in Nairobi and an estimated 4,000 injured when a truck laden with explosives was detonated outside the US embassy.
At about the same time, a similar explosion took place at the US embassy in Dar es Salaam, killing 11 people and wounding 85 others. Among the dead were 12 Americans.
Bi-mkubwa Ghailani told the BBC that while she was not happy that her son would be jailed, she is at least relieved that he is unlikely to get a life sentence.
"First I was happy when I learnt that he would not get a death sentence," she said.
"Now they say he might not get a life sentence, which also makes me glad."
Mrs Ghailani also said she was convinced her son's lawyers would be able to successfully appeal against the sentence.
Ghailani's sentencing has, however, been downplayed in Tanzania, where many view him as a small player in the al-Qaeda network behind the twin bombings of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.
The delay in his conviction has also earned him sympathy from a section of the Tanzanian population.
Some say he deserved a shorter sentence after all the time he has spent in Guantanamo Bay. There are even others who want him back home.
"It's fine for them to sentence him, but let them bring him back to serve his sentence in Tanzania, he is a Tanzanian," said one Dar es Salaam resident, Mike Mande.
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