Aakash Dalal and Anthony Graziano, the two Lodi men who terrorized the Jewish community in North Jersey with a string of arson attacks in 2011 and 2012, were sentenced Friday to 35 years in prison.

The two were convicted last year of spray-painting anti-Semitic graffiti at synagogues in Maywood and Hackensack, attempting to burn down synagogues in Paramus and Rutherford and throwing Molotov cocktails into the Rutherford home of a rabbi from December 2011 to January 2012.

Graziano was tried and found guilty of terrorism and 19 other counts in May. Dalal was tried and found guilty of terrorism and 16 other counts in November.

The two were sentenced together on Friday because they worked as partners, said Brian Sinclair, an assistant Bergen County prosecutor.

“They saw the world with the same set of eyes. They saw Jewish people not as people but as subhuman and like reptiles,” Sinclair said. “They were partners in hate, intimidation and crime.”

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The sentencing had to be moved to a larger courtroom in Hackensack to accommodate the overflow crowd of spectators, many of them from the Jewish community.

Pessy Schuman, the ex-wife of the rabbi who was targeted in the Rutherford firebombing, implored Superior Court Judge Joseph Isabella to hand down a sentence that would say, “Never again in America, never again anywhere.”

“Our people came to America because America allows them to practice their religion and to not be afraid,” she said through tears.

Pessy Schuman, Rabbi Neil Schuman, their five children and two other family members were asleep when glass soda bottles with bandanna wicks and flammable liquid were hurled into their residence next to Congregation Beth El on Jan. 11, 2012.

They awoke to flames that Pessy Schuman said she still sees in her nightmares.

Graziano apologized to the Jewish community at the sentencing and asked the judge for leniency.

“I want a second chance to live a law-abiding life,” Graziano said.

Graziano’s attorney, Ian Silvera, portrayed his client as a victim of brainwashing by Dalal, who he said was more sophisticated than Graziano and exerted control over his actions. Both men were 19 at the time of the attacks.

“It was never Graziano’s intention to hurt or kill anyone,” Silvera said.

Sinclair, the assistant county prosecutor, said Graziano heard screams coming from the Schuman home but did nothing.

“What did he do after he heard someone was in the house? He left,” Sinclair said. “Does that sound like the actions of someone who doesn’t want to hurt someone?”

Dalal did not make a statement during the sentencing. Sinclair said his silence spoke volumes about a lack of contrition.

The prosecution believes the two men would have continued their hate-fueled rampage had they not been caught.

Graziano and Dalal discussed plans to escalate their attacks, Sinclair said, with Dalal telling Graziano he would not trust him until he killed a Jew.

The sentences were the same for both men: 32 years for terrorism, and 18 months for each of two bias intimidation charges.

Paramus Rabbi Arthur Weiner said the monthlong terrorism spree had a deep impact on the Jewish community and forced synagogues across the area to spend thousands of dollars on additional security measures.

He saw the sentencing as a sign that the county and the state did not accept hate crimes and prosecuted those who perpetrated them.

“We were lucky no one was killed,” Weiner said.

Email: shkolnikova@northjersey.com