Suspect In Fort Dix Plot Case Seeks To Be Freed On Bail

Thursday, May 17th 2007, 9:08 am

By: News On 6

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) _ Of the six men charged last week with plotting to attack soldiers at Fort Dix, Agron Abdullahu had the smallest role _ and did not intend to kill anyone, prosecutors say.

But, the U.S. Attorney's Office argues, he should still be held in a detention center until his case is decided.

A judge on Thursday was to decide whether he should be freed on bail.

Abdullahu, 24, is charged with helping illegal immigrants obtain weapons, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

The other five men _ Ibrahim Shnewer, 22; Serdar Tatar, 23; Dritan ``Anthony'' or ``Tony'' Duka, 28; Shain Duka, 26; and Eljvir ``Elvis'' Duka, 23 _ are charged with conspiring to kill military personnel. They face life in prison if convicted.

A judge ruled last week that they should be held without bail.

The six men were arrested on May 7 as prosecutors said they were trying to buy automatic weapons to use in an attack.

Authorities said Abdullahu kept weapons for the others, taught them how to hold guns and told them about how to make bombs.

The government said Abdullahu acknowledged to investigators that he kept weapons for the other suspects because they were in the country illegally and that he made bombs to blow up logs in his yard.

He told an FBI informant he did not intend to kill anyone but wanted to learn about bomb making ``just in case somebody pushes me to the limits,'' according to a government legal brief filed Wednesday.

According to the legal brief, Agron Abdullahu told investigators that Islam says it is wrong to kill civilians and he thought it would be ``crazy'' to attack a military base.

The U.S. Attorney's Office contends Abdullahu would be a flight risk and a danger to the community if he was let out of federal custody. He is a legal U.S. resident but not a citizen.

In another legal filing, Abdullahu's defense lawyer, Lisa Evans Lewis, said the supermarket bread baker, whose ethnic Albanian family came to the United States after fleeing Kosovo in 1999, loved his life in America too much to flee.

Abdullahu's family and a family friend were willing to post the equity in their homes for bail.