Prosecutors also accused the defendants of making rockets and explosives while monitoring various security headquarters to plan attacks on them, the sources said.
The defendants were condemned for "founding and leading a terror group that aimed to attack people's freedom, damage national unity and (attack) the Suez canal waterway", according to one source.
The court referred the verdict to the mufti, a top Islamic official who under Egyptian law has to validate the sentence, and set March 19 for the final verdict.
The sources gave no further details about the group, nor about the alleged plot to target ships in the Suez canal, one of the world's busiest petroleum shipping channels.
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An Al-Qaeda-inspired group, Furqan Brigades, attacked vessels passing through the canal last year and have vowed to conduct more attacks in the future.
However it was not clear if those sentenced today are linked to that group.
At nearly 200 kilometres long, the Suez canal is owned by Egypt but governed by an international treaty that guarantees free navigation.
It provides a vital link between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.
To combat the growing militancy, the army has poured troops into the mountainous and underdeveloped northern Sinai Peninsula, where most of the attacks have been taking place.
Jihadist group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem) has claimed most of the deadliest attacks in Egypt since Morsi's ouster, saying they were to avenge the crackdown by security forces.
More than 1,400 people have been killed in the crackdown, according to rights group Amnesty International, and thousands have been jailed.