New Jersey Brothers Get Life for Fort Dix Terror Plot
April 28, 2009 by national
Filed under Homeland Security News
Three brothers were sentenced to life in prison for conspiring to kill soldiers at the Fort Dix Army base in New Jersey or other military targets in a plot that authorities said was homegrown terrorism.
Dritan “Tony” Duka, 30, was sentenced with his brothers Shain, 28, and Elvjir, 25, for their convictions on conspiracy and weapons charges by an anonymous jury in December. The Dukas were illegal immigrants from Macedonia who settled in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, in the 1980s and ran a family roofing business.
“Nothing has a greater impact on society than a crime of terrorism,” U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler said today in sentencing Dritan Duka in federal court in Camden, New Jersey. “He clearly intended to and planned on killing American soldiers solely because of their status as American soldiers.”
The sentences follow a 15-month FBI investigation and eight-week trial. Prosecutors said the men grew up in the U.S., adopted extremist religious views, and were inspired by online jihadist videos to plan an attack on America. Each of the brothers protested the verdicts, accusing prosecutors and the judge of ignoring evidence or inflating the charges.
“I am innocent, I am innocent, I am innocent,” Shain Duka told the judge today in a packed courtroom with extra security.
Dritan and Shain Duka got an additional 30 years each for buying machine guns from an FBI informant. Two co-defendants will be sentenced tomorrow. Each of the five were acquitted of attempted murder. All three Dukas were ordered to repay $125,000 to the U.S. for the cost of additional security at Fort Dix.
