One of Fort Dix five seeks new trial
One of the men convicted last month in the Fort Dix terrorism trial has asked a federal judge to throw out his conviction or give him a new trial.
One of the men convicted last month in the Fort Dix terrorism trial has asked a federal judge to throw out his conviction or give him a new trial.
Serdar Tatar, 25, argued in a motion filed this week that there was no evidence he was involved in a plot with four other men to launch an armed attack on the military base and kill soldiers there.
"There exists a serious danger that an innocent person has been wrongfully convicted by the jury," read the motion filed by Tatar's attorney, Richard Sparaco.
A federal jury found Tatar, Mohamad Shnewer, and brothers Dritan, Eljvir and Shain Duka guilty of conspiring to kill military personnel. The men, all foreign-born Muslims from Cherry Hill, were acquitted of the more serious charge of attempted murder. They could face life in prison.
Investigators said Tatar, a convenience-store manager, became involved in the case when he gave a map of Fort Dix to an FBI informant who had befriended the other defendants and who was tape-recording their conversations about the plot. Tatar's family owned a pizzeria near the military base and had kept the map there.
But there is no evidence that Tatar knew what the informant, Mahmoud Omar, planned to use the map for, Sparaco said. Tatar delayed giving the map to Omar, Sparaco said, and later went to the police and the FBI when he feared Omar's intentions were dangerous.
"What person who's involved in a jihadist plot would expose themselves to the police and draw that kind of attention?" Sparaco asked. "I'm not saying Tatar is some sort of hero, but he's not a terrorist."
Prosecutors argued during the trial that Tatar went to the police in order to gather information about whether Omar was an informant. Tatar also denied giving Omar the map when the FBI questioned him.
In many of the conversations Omar recorded for the FBI, Shnewer tells Omar that Tatar is one of the men willing to participate in the attack. Sparaco, like the other defendants' lawyers, has said Shnewer was often not taken seriously by his friends.
"If you put any iota of credibility into Shnewer, you could convict pretty much anyone he mentions," Sparaco said. "It's very easy for the government to prove conspiracy on very little evidence."
The motion may be heard along with other motions that are expected to be filed on behalf of the other defendants.