Dix plot defendant: Lawyer failed us

[unhappycamper]

Dix plot defendant: Lawyer failed us
By Geoff Mulvihill - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Feb 5, 2009 13:36:16 EST

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. — One of five men accused of plotting an attack on a New Jersey Army installation has told a judge that his lawyer failed him by not trying harder to strike a plea bargain.

Serdar Tatar and the four other Muslim immigrants, all of whom had lived for years in the Philadelphia suburb of Cherry Hill, N.J., were convicted by a federal jury in December of conspiring to kill military personnel. Prosecutors said the men were considering an attack on Fort Dix, which the Army uses primarily to train reservists for deployments in Iraq.

All five men were acquitted on charges of attempted murder. All except Tatar were also convicted of weapons charges. They face life in prison when they’re sentenced in April.

In a letter sent to U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler last month, Tatar writes that he’s innocent, but may have benefited from a plea deal. “I wanted to mitigate the risk of conviction,” wrote the 25-year-old Turkish-born former convenience store clerk in Philadelphia.

He claims lawyer Richard Sparaco didn’t want to negotiate and told him it was a “once-in-a-lifetime career-making case” and that he needed the money. He said he was firing Sparaco, who was appointed by the judge.


Rest of article at: http://armytimes.com/news/2009/02/ap_dix_plot_defense_020509w/%2e