Creating a scene in court, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab yelled "God is great" and said he was "proud to kill in the name of God."
The sentence was not a surprise after Abdulmutallab pleaded guilty to all the charges on the second day of the trial last fall.
Abdulmutallab had told authorities that he was working for al Qaeda in Yemen when he traveled on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 with the bomb in his underwear. The bomb didn't work, but it badly burned his groin.
Passengers pounced on Abdulmutallab and forced him to the front of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 where he was held until the plane landed minutes later.
The case also had lasting implications for security screening at American airports. Abdulmutallab's ability to defeat security in Amsterdam contributed to the deployment of full-body scanners at U.S. airports.
The Transportation Security Administration was using the scanners in some American cities at the time, but the attack accelerated their placement. There are now hundreds of the devices nationwide.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
