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| Fort Dix defendant blames lawyer in letter |
| 2009-02-03 |
| The Turkish immigrant who supplied the map of Fort Dix in a terror plot to attack the Army base wants to fire his attorney, saying his appointed counsel did not honor his requests to testify or accept a plea deal before trial. Serdar Tatar, formerly of Cherry Hill, wrote the letter dated Jan. 22 to U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler, who presided over the case of the Fort Dix Five late last year and is scheduled to sentence the men in April. Tatar and his co-defendants were convicted Dec. 22 of conspiracy to kill members of the U.S. military after an eight-week federal trial. They were acquitted of attempted murder. All face life in prison. The letter is one in a series of notes the men, all foreign-born Muslims who grew up in South Jersey, have sent to the judge since their May 2007 arrest. At least three of the convicted men have written to Kugler, all proclaiming their innocence, since the jury returned its verdict. Also, the judge has received letters in recent weeks from family members of the men. In the most recent letter, Tatar raises an ineffective assistance of counsel argument and alleges that he was "unduly prejudiced" by the representation of attorney Richard Sparaco. Sparaco and four other prominent South Jersey attorneys were assigned to the case to represent the men in their more than $2-million, government-funded defense. The judge praised their work at the end of the trial. Tatar, writing from the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia, tells the judge he wanted to testify in his own defense, but couldn't because the attorney was unprepared. "I was absolutely prepared and testifying was something we discussed and the decision not to was made for many, many reasons I cannot discuss," Sparaco said Monday. Tatar also said he would have accepted a plea deal in the case, but is quick not to admit guilt. "Although, I maintain my innocence and continue to maintain my innocence, I wanted to mitigate the risk of conviction by entering into a plea and proffer agreement with the government," he wrote. Sparaco said there were plea discussions. "But, there was no real offer," he said. "It was plead guilty and face possible life in prison." Tatar took a map from his father's former Cookstown pizzeria, which served Fort Dix, and gave it to a government informant who said he was looking to make the United States pay for something it did to him. He later told a Philadelphia police officer he thought the man was involved in a terrorism plot. When questioned by the FBI, Tatar, who already was under investigation, denied giving the informant the map. Sparaco said Monday he will continue to represent Tatar until the judge tells him otherwise, saying the letter was "pretty routine from someone facing life in prison." Sparaco was the first of the five defense attorneys to ask the judge to overturn his client's conviction or schedule a new trial after the verdict. Those motions are pending. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #1 when your counsel is free and you are guilty you can't bitch too much but it seems these imported militants think our justice system is a catch and release system. wonder where they got that from |
| Posted by: rabid whitetail 2009-02-03 09:22 |