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Duka brothers get life terms for plotting Fort Dix attack

Three of the five men convicted of plotting an armed attack on Fort Dix were sentenced to life in prison today.

Unidentified supporters of the defendants being sentences in Camden federal court on Tuesday arrive at federal court for the sentencing. (Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer)
Unidentified supporters of the defendants being sentences in Camden federal court on Tuesday arrive at federal court for the sentencing. (Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer)Read more

Three of the five men convicted of plotting an armed attack on Fort Dix were sentenced to life in prison today.

The Duka brothers, Eljvir, Dritan and Shain, maintained their innocence before sentencing in federal court in Camden. Defendants Mohamad Shnewer and Serdar Tatar are scheduled for sentencing tomorrow.

The men, all foreign-born Muslims raised primarily in Cherry Hill, were acquitted after an eight-week trial of attempted murder, but convicted on conspiracy charges.

Dritan and Shain Duka were sentenced to an additional 30 years apiece on a gun charge.

Prosecutors said the men planned to use a pizza-delivery pass to get on the Army base and open fire on soldiers.

The case was built with the help of two FBI informants, who infiltrated the group and recorded hundreds of hours of conversations. All five were arrested in May 2007 after Dritan and Shain Duka attempted to buy rifles from one of the informants.

Although the men made numerous damning statements on the recordings about wanting to kill soldiers, and repeatedly voiced their frustrations with the plight of Muslims overseas, defense attorneys argued that their clients never intended to carry out an attack. They described the defendants as alienated young men full of bluster, but incapable of taking action.

If the sentencing judge accepts the prosecution argument that the men committed a crime of terrorism, then a life sentence is practically guaranteed.