Link to another Staten Island connection
One of five suspects in a drivers license fraud ring was released Thursday after his father agreed to put up property, including his Staten Island home, as bond.
Federal prosecutor Tim DiScenza dropped opposition to Sakher A. Hammad's release after his father, Peter Hansen, a civil engineer employed by New York City government, signed the $250,000 bond.
But DiScenza fought a bid for bail by co-defendant Khaled Odtllah. U.S. Dist. Judge Bernice Donald is scheduled to rule Monday on that matter.
DiScenza also told Donald that the government wants separate trials in rapid succession for the five defendants, with Odtllah, the alleged ringleader, being the last tried.
Donald set a tentative trial date of May 20 for the first of the defendants.
Hammad, like his four co-defendants, had been in federal custody since they were arrested Feb. 5 with Tennessee license examiner Katherine Smith.
A criminal complaint the next day charged all six with being part of a scam in which Smith would issue driver's licenses for a fee to New Yorkers brought to Shelby County by Odtllah.
Smith, out of jail on her own recognizance, died in a fiery car crash the night before she was scheduled to appear at a detention hearing. (She was burned alive with gasoline, nice folks practicing this religion of Peace).
The defendants were denied bail at the Feb. 11 hearing after the government cited the "mysterious" nature of Smith's death as well as what they said were connections to the World Trade Center just before the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.
Hammad had a visitor's pass for one of the towers dated Sept. 5. He has allegedly told investigators that his Brooklyn plumbing company worked on the building's sprinkler system.
One of the men, authorities say, drove from New York to Memphis on September 11 -- the day of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. And one of them, at the time of his arrest, was carrying in his wallet a pass to the trade center dated September 5.
Footnote: FEMA Report explaining why the Towers collapsed included as a primary reason: the sprinkler systems had been disabled.
Father = Hansen; son = Hammad. Yet another Johnny Taliban? I didn't know that FEMA had reported that the sprinklers had been disabled. Was this widely reported? (I've missed little hunks of news access so I don't know if this is the normal media news blackout or if I just missed it.) Especially interesting since this little creep had access to same.
Father = Hansen; son = Hammad. Yet another Johnny Taliban? I didn't know that FEMA had reported that the sprinklers had been disabled. Was this widely reported? (I've missed little hunks of news access so I don't know if this is the normal media news blackout or if I just missed it.) Especially interesting since this little creep had access to same.