Lawyer: Fort Dix suspect to plead guilty

The defendant facing the least serious charges of six men in the Fort Dix terror plot case is expected to plead guilty Wednesday, according to a lawyer in the case.

The attorney for Agron Abdullahu told other defense lawyers in the case about the expected plea Friday, said Richard Sparaco, lawyer for defendant Serdar Tatar.

The scope and terms of the plea deal were not disclosed, Sparaco said.

Abdullahu was charged with illegally supplying two others charged in the plot with weapons that were used at a shooting range in the Poconos. The weapons offenses can bring up to 10 years in prison.

A message seeking comment from his lawyer, Richard Coughlin, was not returned Friday. At pretrial hearings, Coughlin had said he would seek a separate trial.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, Michael Drewniak, declined to comment.

The six suspects have pleaded not guilty and face trial in federal court in Camden on Jan. 15.

Five of the men — brothers Dritan, Shain and Eljvir Duka; Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer; and Tatar — face life in prison if convicted of conspiracy to murder military personnel.

Authorities said they scouted out East Coast military installations to find one to attack but settled on Fort Dix largely because Tatar knew his way around from delivering pizzas to the base for his father's restaurant.