By Joe Ryan
The Newark Star-Ledger
CAMDEN, N.J. A federal judge in Camden yesterday upheld convictions of five Muslim immigrants found guilty of plotting to kill soldiers at Fort Dix, rejecting arguments that the case lacked evidence.
Lawyers for the men, who were convicted in December, had asked U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler to overrule the jury. But Kugler refused, saying prosecutors provided more than ample evidence to prove their convictions.
“There was overwhelming evidence,” Kugler said.
The five men, immigrants in their 20s from Albania, Turkey and Jordan, sat shackled during the hearing and did not speak. After Kugler announced his decision, they traded shouts of “Allah Akbar” - Arabic for “God is great” - with some of their relatives in the courtroom.
During the eight-week trial, prosecutors cast the men as homegrown terrorists. They said the men, who grew up in America, had become hardened by their religious beliefs, studied jihadist videos and lectures, trained with guns and scouted Fort Dix and other nearby bases for a possible attack.
The men face life in prison. Kugler scheduled an April 22 sentencing for three of them, brothers Dritan, Shain and Eljvir Duka. He said he would sentence the other two, Mohamad Shnewer and Serdar Tatar, the next day.
Afterward, the defendants can ask the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review their case.
Lawyers for the men argued they were all talk and never seriously planned to kill soldiers at the base in Ocean and Burlington counties, where Army reservists train before heading to Iraq.
Jurors cleared the men of attempted-murder charges and convicted them of conspiracy and weapons charges.
Shnewer’s lawyer, Rocco Cipparone, argued yesterday that prosecutors failed to provide enough details to prove the weapons charges. He said Shnewer discussed automatic weapons with a government informant, but said he never took concrete steps to buy them.
Deputy U.S. Attorney William Fitzpatrick rejected that idea, saying the conversations about weapons were not “soft, fanciful talk.” Fitzpatrick said Shnewer talked about weapons for months, saved money to buy them and scouted out the base to determine where to use them.
“This is not something that occurred over a day or two,” Fitzpatrick said.
Kugler said the trial was fair, citing the lengths the government took to hire translators and find impartial jurors.
“Was it a fair trial? Boy it sure was,” Kugler said. “Was there a miscarriage of justice? No.”
Copyright 2009 Newark Morning Ledger Co.