4th Defendant Sentenced in Plot Against US Army Base
By VOA News
29 April 2009
A U.S. federal judge has sentenced a fourth defendant to life in prison following his conviction in a plot to kill U.S. military personnel at a base in the eastern U.S. state of New Jersey.
The judge sentenced Jordanian-born Mohamed Shnewer to life plus 30 years for his role in a conspiracy to kill U.S. soldiers at the Fort Dix Army base.
The court Tuesday sentenced three brothers Dritan, Eljvir and Shain Duka, ethnic Albanians born in Macedonia, to similar life terms.
The sentencing of a fifth defendant, Turkish-born Serdar Tatar, is expected later Wednesday.
A U.S. federal jury convicted the five in December of conspiring to kill U.S. soldiers in a planned attack on the base.
The verdict followed an eight-week trial in which prosecutors said the men were inspired by al-Qaida, and that their motive was to defend Islam.
Authorities arrested the Muslim defendants in May 2007. Each had pleaded not guilty.
Their lawyers said paid informants for the Federal Bureau of Investigation unfairly manipulated the men to talk about a plot they never intended to carry out.
They were arrested after trying to buy automatic weapons from a gun seller who was secretly working with federal authorities.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
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