Fort Dix Terror Plot Conviction Challenged by Cherry Hill Brothers

Citing an incompetent defense, a pair of brothers convicted in the 2007 Fort Dix terror plot are seeking to have their life sentences vacated and be granted a new trial, according to court documents filed last week.

Eljvir, 29, and Dritan Duka, 34, ethnic Albanians who were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder for being involved with a group that vowed to kill as many military personnel as possible on the Burlington County base, hammered their attorneys in the filing, claiming more than a dozen failures in representation, including failing to have the Dukas testify in federal court during their trial.

Both Eljvir and Dritan, who lived in Cherry Hill during the plot, wrote they would’ve testified had they been prepared to do so, but their attorneys ultimately advised otherwise, despite telling them early on the brothers would likely need to take the stand.

That failure prevented them from explaining their side of claims the brothers wanted to wage jihad—holy war—against soldiers at the 10-square-mile base.

“The discussions I had with my brother and others were theoretical,” wrote Eljvir, who is being held at a medium-security federal prison in Terra Haute, IN. “We never had an agreement and/or plan to do an illegal act.”

His brother Dritan, being held at ADX Florence, a supermax prison in Colorado, supported that statement, claiming violence wasn’t their intent.

“I stated it was unrealistic to think we would engage in violent jihad and dismissed any discussion that it could be done,” Dritan wrote in his filing.

They also challenged the claim by one informant that they regularly trained by playing paintball several times a week, saying they spent upwards of 60 hours per week with their roofing business, leaving little time for anything else.

“We were developing our business to provide for our families,” they each wrote.

The brothers claim a missing 36 minutes of tape from informant Besnik Bakalli could’ve helped prove an assertion they weren’t training for an attack when they went to play paintball in the Poconos, and that they were unaware of conversations between Mahmoud Omar, another informant, and Mohammed Shnewer, who the FBI said went to Fort Dix to surveil the base.

Dritan, who the FBI said ordered four AK-47 fully automatic rifles—illegal under New Jersey gun laws—as well M16 rifles and handguns from an informant, claims he was only buying the weapons for target practice and games for the occasions they did go to the Poconos.

The Dukas also said their attorneys failed in not trying to remove a juror whose son served in Iraq and should’ve brought in an expert on Islam to explain the concept of jihad.

Eljvir and Dritan’s appeal resulted in their convictions being upheld; an appeal to the Supreme Court was denied.

A third Duka brother, Shain, has not filed a similar challenge at this point.

The attorneys who represented the Dukas couldn’t be reached Wednesday. Federal prosecutors said they’ll file a response, as required by the court.