Man in Plot Aimed at Turk Consulate Receives 5 1/2 Years

A Pasadena man convicted for his role in an unsuccessful plot to bomb the Turkish Consulate in Philadelphia more than three years ago was sentenced Monday to 5 1/2 years in prison.

Dickran Berberian, 32, was among five Southern California Armenian-American men arrested in October, 1982, on charges of plotting to blow up the consulate. The planned bombing was part of an ongoing campaign of violence against Turkish officials in retaliation for the massacre of Armenians by Turks during World War I.

The other four men were tried together and convicted 17 months ago but remain free pending appeals. Berberian was tried alone in Los Angeles before Chief U.S. District Judge Manuel Real and was convicted by a jury last month of conspiracy and transporting a bomb across state lines. Berberian, free on bail, was ordered to begin his sentence April 7.