bailey@gomemphis.com
By A. J. Wolfe
The body of driver's license examiner Katherine Smith is carried to a waiting hearse following her funeral at the Family Funeral Care Summer Avenue Chapel Saturday.
Posted on 02/18/2002 10:28:39 AM PST by archy
Mourners remember the good deeds of license examiner, not how she died
By Clay Bailey
bailey@gomemphis.com
By A. J. Wolfe
The body of driver's license examiner Katherine Smith is carried to a waiting hearse following her funeral at the Family Funeral Care Summer Avenue Chapel Saturday.
Mourners filled the Family Funeral Care chapel Saturday to talk about the good deeds and Christian life of Katherine Smith, balancing the publicity surrounding her fiery death last week and the charge that she sold fraudulent driver's licenses.
About 175 people created a standing-room-only arrangement in the chapel, at times swaying and singing along with hymns and testimonials.
"We're not here to remember how she died," said Rev. L. F. Self of Great Ebenezer Baptist Church. "She requested a lively funeral. . . . We came to remember how she lived."
Smith, a 49-year-old state driver's license examiner, was found burned to death in a 1992 Acura Legend after it veered off U.S. 72 in Fayette County in the early morning hours of Feb. 10. Authorities said she died from inhaling the flames from a fire started with the help of an accelerant.
There are questions about connections between her death and federal charges of fraudulently obtaining a Tennessee driver's license against her and five co-defendants. Smith was accused of conspiring to illegally provide licenses to the five men, some of whom were in the country illegally.
The six were arrested Feb. 5 at the testing center on Summer after the transaction. Smith, an examiner for nine years, was released on her own recognizance and was to appear in federal court the day after the discovery of her body alongside the highway.
Smith's family members declined to talk to the media Saturday either at the funeral home or burial at Memphis Memory Gardens. And there were few references to the matter during the 45-minute service.
"While others are speculating or wondering about what's in the background . . . I know how she lived," Self said. "She was a child of God."
Among those attending the service were a group of state driver's license examiners in their uniforms.
Mourners began arriving more than an hour before the 11 a.m. service in the chapel at 4925 Summer. There were hugs and well wishes to friends and family.
Near the start all the pews were full, and an extra room in the back of the chapel quickly turned into an overflow of people standing against the wall.
There were hymns and poems, Scripture readings and acknowledgments for the well wishes shown to the family.
While the mood at times was somber, there also were moments when it seemed like a celebration. A solo brought the crowd to a hand-waving, clapping display of joy with hallelujahs and amens added for verbal support.
Self, decked in a red sports coat, took swigs of bottled water and wiped his brow as he recalled how Smith helped take care of sick family members and her involvement in the church. He said when he preached a sermon several weeks ago about how this year should be better than 2001, he had no idea he would deal with Smith's death.
"Little did I know that in 2002, we were going to lose our best member," Self said. ". . . Little did I know we would lose a precious stone like (Smith).
"There's so much speculation, so much mysticism and mystery surrounding the death of our sister, but there is no mystery of how she lived."
- Clay Bailey: 529-2393
February 17, 2002
And of course, some of Tennessee's fundamentalist Baptists can be quite extremist in their own way, as evidenced by past Memphis CA stories into local Baptist church groups' infighting and factionalism.
But nothing overt has been revealed...yet.
She LIVED the life of a Thief, remember that Rev. Self!
Another article also mentioned that she worked several jobs for extra money including taking care of people (some of that may have been volunteer work).
I hope that details don't start to dry up now that the funeral has passed.
Her arraignment was coming up, she was facing some time, especially in these times, in these circumstances. What would you do? I have seen enough Law and Order episodes to know what the prosecutors were trying to get her to do. Chances are real good she was going to "turn states" to save herself. She was a classic target for this. Why was she allowed out where she could commit suicide or be murdered? Another key witness dies.
She also earned extra money selling untraceable driver licenses to illegal alien Moslem terrorists who probably killed her.
There's a much bigger market for that sort of thing among the Memphis community of illegal entrants from Mexico. And the Tyson organized crime family now under investigation for those activities has also been under investigation for narcotics trafficking as well.
But apparantly, Rev L.F. Self knew all about that: *...but there is no mystery of how she lived.*
20 December 2001
Tyson Foods indicted for smuggling illegal aliens
Washington, D.C. - Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest producer, processor, and marketer of poultry-based food products, has been hit with a 36-count indictment by an arm of the U.S. Department of Justice on charges it conspired to smuggle illegal immigrants across the Mexican border to work in its processing plants.
Michael Chertoff, assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, said a federal grand jury in Chattanooga, Tenn., returned the indictment against executives and managers of Tyson Foods for conspiracy to smuggle illegal aliens to Tyson Foods processing facilities in the United States for profit.
In addition to charging Tyson Foods Inc., the indictment includes two corporate executives, Robert Hash, vice-president, Retail Fresh Division and Gerald Lankford, former human resources manager, Retail Fresh. Also indicted are four former managers Keith Snyder, complex manager, Noel, Missouri; Truley Ponder, former complex manager, Shelbyville, Tenn.; Spencer Mabe, former plant manager, Shelbyville, Tenn.; and Jimmy Rowland, former complex personnel manager, Shelbyville, Tenn.
"The Department of Justice is committed to vigorously investigating and prosecuting companies or individuals who exploit immigrants and violate our nation's immigration laws," said Chertoff. "The bottom line on the corporate balance sheet is no excuse for criminal conduct."
Chertoff said the 36-count indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee is the result of a two-and-one-half year undercover investigation conducted by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) into the business practices of Tyson Foods.
Tyson Foods executives and managers are accused in the indictment of conspiring to import and transport illegal alien workers from the Southwest border to Tyson plants throughout the U.S. Fifteen Tyson Foods plants in nine states have been implicated in this conspiracy to defraud the United States government.
"This case represents the first time INS has taken action against a company of Tyson's magnitude," said INS Commissioner James Ziglar. "INS means business and companies, regardless of size, are on notice that INS is committed to enforcing compliance with immigration laws and protecting America's workforce."
According to the indictment, Tyson Foods cultivated a corporate culture in which the hiring of illegal alien workers was condoned in order to meet production goals and cut costs to maximize profits. The indictment describes a scheme by which the defendants requested delivery of illegal aliens to work at Tyson plants in the United States and aided and abetted them in obtaining false documents so they could work at Tyson poultry processing plants "under the false pretense of being legally employable."
Ziglar said the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Labor, the Social Security Administration, the Bedford County Tennessee Sheriff's Department, the Shelbyville Tennessee Police Department and the Tennessee Highway Patrol all participated in this INS investigation.
Tyson, based in Springdale, Ark., disputed the government accusations that a corporate conspiracy took place. Ken Kimbro, senior vice president of human resources, issued a statement saying "the prosecutor's claim in this indictment of a corporate conspiracy is absolutely false. In reality, the specific charges are limited to a few managers who were acting outside of company policy at five of our 57 poultry processing plants," he said.
"As a result of an internal investigation several months ago, four managers named in the indictment were terminated, and two others are now on administrative leave, pending the outcome of this matter," Kimbro said.
She was selling out to people who want to kill americans. For the almighty dollar this woman put our babies in danger, She got what she deserved.
I have been searching the web all morning, looking for a Sheik Gilani al-Fuqra compound around Memphis, but found none so far. There are obviously several muslim mosques and the like.
This story still has potential of connecting alot of "dots".
The differences between Law and Order prosecutors and the real thing is a country mile. Real prosecutors break laws in order to enhance conviction rates.
She had done this same deal with this same man 6 or 7 other times.
It's undeclared at this time if she did the same deal for other people.
This story still has potential of connecting alot of "dots".
You familiar with Syed Abdul Rehman Gilani?
-archy-/-
This is the man that sold her the car. This is the man who arranged this deal. This man is still in jail on the original charge (being held without bail).
I searched his name because of the remaining living figures, his name is the most prominent.
2 articles total. Both after her death.
0 articles found on ABC ("America's leading news source, more Americans get their news from ABC than anywhere else..."). "License" matches articles but nothing on this case. "Keep smiling and act like nothing's wrong..."
This is the man that sold her the car. This is the man who arranged this deal. This man is still in jail on the original charge (being held without bail).
I searched his name because of the remaining living figures, his name is the most prominent.
2 articles total. Both after her death.
0 articles found on ABC ("America's leading news source, more Americans get their news from ABC than anywhere else..."). "License" matches articles but nothing on this case. "Keep smiling and act like nothing's wrong..."
Odtllah turns up in 5 locations so far at Google. Not surprisingly, *Smith* will return a few more than that....
Though it dates back to the 13th, the summary story from World Net Daily has been up on the WND front page for most of the past week, and was also available from the WND website.
Both the NY Times and Newsweak have reporters mining for additional info on the case in Memphis, as does WND, and on Wednesday, the local weekly Memphis Flyer may or may not offer additional related stories.
-archy-/-
If I was Ms. Clio, I'd be predicting the story line of a forthcoming Steven King novel, which ought tyo hit the bookstore shelves just in time for the Christmas shopping season....
-archy-/-
Her fiery agony now continues in Hades. Now let us finish the task by executing her 5 cohorts.
Perhaps it would be better to see if we can get some information out them, instead. Smith ADMITTED to selling these phony licenses "6 or 7 times"- that means that she likely did it dozens of times, for who knows how mnany illegals, and what nationalities? SHE knew, and she was killed to keep her from talking.
By a Co-worker involved in what may be a large ring selling false documents?
By a Terrorist cell in Memphis?
BY someone with a phony Tennessee drivers license who REALLY didn't want to be identified?
Or by someone protecting a source...
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