Free Republic

Although admitting he wasn't "very effective" as a spy, a federal judge today sentenced a Des Plaines man to four years in prison for his role as an Iraqi "sleeper" secretly placed in Chicago for Saddam Hussein's spy service. Sami Khoshaba Latchin, 61, was convicted by a federal jury in April. Latchin, who worked for American Airlines at O'Hare Airport, had lied about his intelligence links with the former government in Iraq and made false statements to U.S. immigration officials when he applied for naturalization in 1998. Now Latchin faces deportation - which the federal government wants - and Judge...

CHICAGO (AP) Prosecutors want to travel to the United Arab Emirates to interview two former Iraqi intelligence officers they say are cooperating in the case against an Illinois man accused of being a ``sleeper agent'' sent by Saddam Hussein. The men live in Iraq and worked for the Iraqi intelligence service, one allegedly as the handler for Sami Latchin and one as a supervisor, said Kim Nerheim, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office. The handler allegedly helped plant Latchin in the United States and met with him in other countries to pay him, she said. Prosecutors describe the men as...