2nd FBI informant to take stand in Fort Dix trial

CAMDEN, N.J., Dec 1 – Besnik Bakalli, according to officials, came to the United States illegally, then returned to Albania, where he shot a man, then entered the United States again.
Bakalli is now testifying for the U.S. Justice Department as it tries to prosecute five men accused of planning to sneak onto New Jersey’s Fort Dix and kill soldiers at the base.
Bakalli, a paid informant in the case, testified on Monday in the trial, which began in October and could stretch into 2009.
The government has portrayed the case as an example of a good investigation, averting an attack that could have been one of the nation’s most frightening examples of homegrown terrorism.
The suspects face life in prison if convicted of the most serious charges they face, including conspiracy to murder military personnel and attempted murder.
Defense lawyers say their clients were not seriously planning an attack, but that the other informant, Mahmoud Omar, tried to make it seem they were so he could continue to be paid by the government.
Prosecutors acknowledge that Bakalli’s and Omar’s stories are flawed.
Deputy U.S. Attorney William Fitzpatrick told jurors in his opening statements that the FBI needed people like them – who would have credibility with the alleged plotters.
Fitzpatrick called Bakalli a “tough guy from the streets” who was about to be deported when he agreed to help the government.
“His main goal is not cash,” Fitzpatrick told jurors. “His main goal is status.”
The government has promised to recommend Bakalli receive some kind of legal resident status in exchange for his help. The FBI also brought his mother and sister from Albania for safety last year, Fitzpatrick said.
Bakalli entered the United States in 1999 using a false passport. He then went back to Albania in 2000 to deal with a family matter. Bakalli shot the man who allegedly was giving his sister a problem, but the man was not killed. Bakalli later returned to the U.S. and was convicted of the shooting in absentia. But in early 2007, when Bakalli was working for the U.S. government, he was pardoned for the shooting.