Posted on 04/29/2009 4:41:02 PM PDT by Cindy
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/April/09-nsd-408.html
Two Additional Defendants Sentenced for Conspiring to Kill U.S. Soldiers
WASHINGTON – The remaining two men convicted of plotting to kill members of the U.S. military during an armed attack on a military base were sentenced today to federal prison terms of life for one defendant and 33 years for the other for conspiring to kill members of the U.S. military, Ralph J. Marra Jr., Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey; David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; and Janice K. Fedarcyk, Special Agent in Charge of the Philadelphia Division of the FBI, announced.
U.S. District Judge Robert B. Kugler sentenced Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer to a term of life in prison plus an additional, consecutive 30 years. Judge Kugler sentenced Serdar Tatar to 33 years in prison. There is no parole in the federal system.
Judge Kugler, who presided over a 12-week trial for the five defendants, also ordered Shnewer and Tatar to pay $125,000 in restitution to the Department of the Army for the costs of added security measures undertaken in response to the plot.
Yesterday, Judge Kugler sentenced Dritan Duka and Shain Duka to prison terms of life plus 30 years. The third brother, Eljvir Duka, received a life prison term. The same $125,000 restitution order was imposed for them as well.
The case was tried by Deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Hammer, Jr., Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Counter-Terrorism Unit.
"The sentences are appropriate in each instance and we are pleased and gratified by the results," said Marra. "Over the last few years, this investigation and prosecution was of the highest priority for us and our law enforcement partners. Now that the case is behind us, I want to commend the trial attorneys, agents, investigators and all others who worked tirelessly to keep our soldiers, civilian employees and military bases safe."
"The sentences handed down today, along with the sentences in this case yesterday, reaffirm for all of us the value of the commitment we have made to live free from the tyranny of fear," said Special Agent in Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk, of the Philadelphia Division of the FBI. "The FBI’s top priority is to protect this nation from terrorism, and addressing threats of terrorist acts quickly and aggressively is the only way to succeed in this important mission."
"These sentences are the culmination of an extensive federal, state and local law enforcement operation," said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. "While these defendants were not members of an international terrorist organization, their homegrown plot to murder U.S. military personnel at Fort Dix was no less serious or potentially deadly."
The defendants’ arrests occurred on May 7, 2007, in Cherry Hill as Dritan and Shain Duka were meeting a confidential government witness to purchase four automatic M-16 rifles and three semi-automatic AK-47 rifles to be used in a future attack on military personnel. The other defendants were arrested at various locations at about the same time.
On Dec. 22, 2008, after 5½ days of deliberations, a jury convicted the three Duka brothers, Shnewer and Tatar on Count One of the seven-count Superseding Indictment that charged them with conspiracy to murder members of the U.S. military. The jury also convicted the Dukas and Shnewer of firearm offenses, including possession of machine guns.
The evidence proved that one member of the group conducted surveillance at Fort Dix and Fort Monmouth in New Jersey, Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and the U.S. Coast Guard in Philadelphia. The co-conspirators obtained a detailed map of Fort Dix, where they hoped to use assault rifles to kill as many soldiers as possible, according to trial testimony and evidence.
During the trial, the jury viewed secretly recorded videotapes of the defendants performing small-arms training at a shooting range in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania and watching training videos amongst themselves that included depictions of American soldiers being killed and of known foreign Islamic radicals urging jihad against the United States.
The defendants and the charges on which each was convicted are as follows:
Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer, 24, of Cherry Hill: conspiracy to murder members of the U.S. military, and the attempted possession of AK-47 semi-automatic assault weapons to be used in the attack. Dritan Duka, 30 of Cherry Hill: conspiracy to murder members of the U.S. military; possession of machine guns; possession and attempted possession of machine guns in furtherance of a crime of violence; and two counts of possession of firearms by an illegal alien. Shain Duka, 28, of Cherry Hill: conspiracy to murder members of the U.S. military; possession of machine guns; possession and attempted possession of machine guns in furtherance of a crime of violence; and two counts of possession of firearms by an illegal alien. Eljvir Duka, 25, of Cherry Hill: conspiracy to murder members of the U.S. military, and possession of firearms by illegal aliens. The jury acquitted on one count of possession and attempted possession of machine guns in furtherance of a crime of violence. Serdar Tatar, 25, of Philadelphia: conspiracy to murder members of the U.S. military. A sixth co-defendant, Agron Abdullahu, 26, of Buena Vista Township, Atlantic County, pleaded guilty before Judge Kugler on Oct. 31, 2007, to aiding and abetting the Duka brothers’ illegal possession of weapons. Abdullahu was arrested on May 7, 2007, along with the defendants convicted today. On March 31, 2008, Judge Kugler sentenced Abdullahu to 20 months in federal prison.
Marra and Kris credited the Special Agents of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division and the FBI South Jersey Joint Terrorism Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Fedarcyk, in Philadelphia, for investigation of the case.
Marra, Kris and Fedarcyk also thanked investigators with member agencies of the FBI South Jersey Joint Terrorism Task Force, which comprises ICE’s Philadelphia Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge John P. Kelleghan, the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of the Prosecutor Warren W. Faulk, N.J. State Police, under the direction of Col. Joseph "Rick" Fuentes, Superintendent, and the Delaware River Port Authority Police, under the direction of Chief Dave McClintock, for their tireless efforts on the investigation, and trial attorney John Van Lunkhuysen of the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, for his trial preparation assistance.
Additionally, Marra, Kris and Fedarcyk would like to thank the following agencies for their assistance and support: the U.S. military services at Fort Dix, Fort Monmouth, Dover Air Force Base, the U.S. Coast Guard in Philadelphia and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, along with the Cherry Hill Police Department, Mt. Laurel Police Department, Cherry Hill Fire Department, Camden County Sheriff's Department, Philadelphia Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, and N.J. Homeland Security.
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09-408
JIHAD WATCH.org (THE STAR LEDGER): "FORT DIX JIHADISTS SENTENCED TO LIFE OF PRISON DA'WA" (SNIPPET: "The men, brothers from the Balkens [sic], were among five defendants convicted in December of conspiring to target the Burlington County military base in a crime prosecutors said was inspired by al Qaeda and proved homegrown jihadists were plotting inside America.") (April 28, 2009)
JIHAD WATCH.org (STAR-LEDGER): "FORT DIX JIHAD VIDEO DEPICTS GORY DECAPITATIONS AND JIHADI CELEBRATIONS" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "An FBI language specialist, Gassan Hajjar, then described for jurors what happened next: Using a knife, the captors sliced off the hostages' heads, taking four to six minutes to complete the decapitations, he said. They held the severed heads aloft, placed them back on the bodies and celebrated.") (October 24, 2008)
Quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=54129
Fort Dix Terror Plotters Sentenced
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, April 29, 2009 – The last of five defendants found guilty in a terror plot to kill soldiers at Fort Dix, N.J., were sentenced today, with four to serve the rest of their lives behind bars and one sentenced to 33 years in prison.
Mohamad Shnewer, who a federal judge described as the “epicenter” of the plot, was sentenced in New Jersey earlier today to life plus 30 years in prison.
Serdar Tatar, a convenience store clerk in Philadelphia who provided the other conspirators a map of Fort Dix, received a 33-year sentence today.
Three brothers involved in the plot — Dritan Duka, 30, Shain Duka, 28, and Eljvir Duka, 25 — received life sentences yesterday without the possibility of parole.
Federal prosecutors said the five men, all Muslim immigrants arrested in Cherry Hill, N.J., in May 2007, were planning to attack Fort Dix and military personnel.
Assistant Attorney General Patrick Rowan said as the guilty verdicts were rendered that they underscore the need for continued vigilance against homegrown terror threats.
Although the defendants weren’t members of an international terror organization, “their involvement in weapons training, their surveillance of domestic targets and their discussions of killing U.S. military personnel posed a serious threat that required the law-enforcement disruption and the prosecutions upheld by the jury today,” he said.
A 16-month FBI investigation led to the suspects’ arrests May 7, 2007, as Dritan and Shain Duka tried to buy three AK-47 assault rifles and four semi-automatic M-16s from a confidential government witness.
“They identified their target, they did their reconnaissance, they had maps, and they were in the process of buying weapons,” Jody Weiss, the special agent in charge of the FBI in Philadelphia, said a day after the arrests.
“Today we dodged a bullet,” Weiss added. “In fact, when you look at the type of weapons this group was trying to purchase, we may have dodged a lot of bullets.”
Related Articles:
Five Convicted of Plotting to Kill Soldiers at Fort Dix
Previously...
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=52454
Five Convicted of Plotting to Kill Soldiers at Fort Dix
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Dec. 23, 2008 – A federal jury yesterday found five men guilty of conspiracy to kill U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix, N.J., but acquitted them of attempted murder.
After nearly six days of deliberation, the jury rendered the guilty verdict for three brothers — Shain, Eljvir and Dritan Duka — and two other defendants, Mohamad Shnewer and Serdar Tatar. They face a maximum of life in prison, according to a Justice Department news release published yesterday.
Federal prosecutors said the five men, all Muslim immigrants who were arrested in Cherry Hill, N.J., in May 2007, were planning to attack Fort Dix and military personnel.
“Today’s verdicts underscore the need for continued vigilance against homegrown terror threats,” Assistant Attorney General Patrick Rowan stated in the release.
“While these defendants were not members of an international terrorist organization, their involvement in weapons training, their surveillance of domestic targets and their discussions of killing U.S. military personnel posed a serious threat that required the law enforcement disruption and the prosecutions upheld by the jury today,” he said.
The prosecution’s case was based on evidence culled from a 16-month FBI investigation that led to the apprehensions. FBI agents arrested the suspects May 7, 2007, as Dritan and Shain Duka tried to buy three AK-47 assault rifles and four semi-automatic M-16s from a confidential government witness.
“They identified their target, they did their reconnaissance, they had maps, and they were in the process of buying weapons,” Jody Weiss, the special agent in charge of the FBI in Philadelphia, said a day after the arrests.
“Today we dodged a bullet,” Weiss added. “In fact, when you look at the type of weapons this group was trying to purchase, we may have dodged a lot of bullets.”
The FBI’s investigation began January 2006 when a video store representative tipped off officials after a man brought a “disturbing” video to be converted to DVD format.
According to a court complaint described during the arrests, the video “depicted 10 young men who appeared to be in their early twenties shooting assault weapons at a firing range in a militia-like style while calling for jihad and shouting in Arabic ‘Allahu Akbar,’” or God is great.
In addition, the jury viewed secretly recorded videotapes of the defendants performing small-arms training at a shooting range in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania, watching training videos showing the slayings of American soldiers and depicting known foreign Islamic radicals urging jihad against the United States, the release states.
Janice K. Fedarcyk, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division, praised the video store employee-turned-whistleblower.
“Vigilance was the key to disrupting the dangerous terrorists convicted today and we are glad they are off the street,” Fedarcyk states in the release.
At the time of arrest, the Duka brothers, who were born in what was then Yugoslavia, had been living in the United States illegally and operating a roofing company; Shnewar, a Jordanian-born taxi driver, and Tatar, a convenience store clerk born in Turkey, are both legal U.S. residents.
The jury found that one member of the group conducted surveillance at Fort Dix and Fort Monmouth in New Jersey, Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and the U.S. Coast Guard facility in Philadelphia. The co-conspirator obtained a detailed map of Fort Dix, where they hoped to use assault rifles to kill as many soldiers as possible, according to trial testimony and evidence.
Related Sites:
Justice Department News Release
Six Arrested for Plotting to Kill Soldiers at Fort Dix, N.J.
ping
Good news, thanks Cindy.
Yep and you’re welcome Oorang.
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