Appeals court upholds convictions in Fort Dix plot


December 28, 2011 at 2:03p.m.

Appeals court upholds convictions in Fort Dix plot

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A federal appeals panel has upheld the convictions and sentences of five New Jersey men who were convicted of planning to attack Fort Dix or other military bases, though it threw out one charge against one defendant.

Defense lawyers argue that the 2008 convictions wrongly relied on a law aimed at gathering foreign intelligence.

But a three-judge panel at the federal appeals court in Philadelphia ruled today that it was legal to use information gathered through a Patriot Act provision.

A conviction on one count dismissed.

Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer was convicted of attempting to possess weapons for an unlawful purpose, but the judges say no such charge exists. That means a 30-year prison sentence was thrown out, but Shnewer still has a life prison sentence on other charges.