Five Found Guilty of Planning Fort Dix Attack

Jurors in New Jersey have found five men guilty of plotting to attack Fort Dix.

Jurors in Camden found the men guilty of conspiring to kill U.S. soldiers but acquitted them of attempted murder, report the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.). Four of them were also convicted of weapons charges.

They could be sentenced to life in prison but they will likely receiver shorter sentences, the Wall Street Journal says.

Defense lawyers had argued the defendants were never serious about carrying out their plans and their taped comments had been coaxed out of them by government informants, the Times story says. But prosecutors claimed the men had bought machine guns to carry out the plot and said the computer of one defendant contained jihadist videos showing kidnapping victims about to be beheaded.

Authorities were tipped off to possible wrongdoing by the owner of a video store where the men tried to have a videotape of a terrorist training exercise converted to DVD.

The five who were convicted of conspiracy are Shain, Eljvir and Dritan Duka, all brothers, and Mohamad Shnewer and Serdar Tatar. Tatar was not convicted of any weapons charges, according to the Times.

Dritan Duka had once owned a pizza shop and he and his brothers worked in a family roofing business. Tatar was an assistant manager at a 7-11 and Schnewer was a cab driver, the Times says.