"I'm worried that we won't receive a fair trial [due] to prejudice and all the lies being said in the media and by the prosecution," Dritan Duka wrote. "And I hope that the truth really comes out so everyone will know that we would never do anything that they accuse us of."
The letters were made public yesterday after a status conference in the case. Kugler and the attorneys discussed the letters and a variety of other issues, including jury selection, courtroom rules, evidence and a proposed trial date.
Kugler, who said he wanted to wrap up the case by the end of the year, set an Oct. 9 trial date. But one defense attorney called that goal "unrealistic" because of the amount of evidence and the complexity of the case.
"We strongly believe that we're going to need much more time," said Lisa Evans Lewis, the attorney for Agron Abdullahu, 24.
"I've gotten my point across that I want this case to move," the judge said. "We'll do the best we can, but I'm not unreasonable."
Five of the six defendants - Shnewer, 22; Serdar Tatar, 23; and brothers Dritan Duka, 28; Shain Duka, 26, and Eljvir Duka, 23 - were charged with plotting a Fort Dix attack that was "inspired by . . . al-Qaeda." They could face a life sentence if convicted.
The sixth defendant, Abdullahu, was charged with supplying some of his codefendants with guns. He faces a 10-year sentence.
They all were arrested May 7 in a domestic terrorism investigation that drew international headlines.
Two FBI informants penetrated the group and secretly recorded more than 100 conversations. Prosecutors said the men hoped to use a pizza-delivery pass to get onto the Army base, then open fire on soldiers.
All six are foreign-born Muslims who came to live in South Jersey. Shnewer, a Jordanian and the lone naturalized U.S. citizen in the group, said in his letter that the United States "gave me and my family opportunities we didn't have where we came from."
