License plot suspect pleads guilty: Will likely testify against 4 co-defendants

One of five men charged in a scheme to fraudulently obtain driver's licenses in Memphis pleaded guilty Friday to the federal conspiracy charge.

And the federal prosecutor handling the case said in court that Mohammed A. Fares of New York will probably testify against his four co-defendants at their trials.

Fares was to have been the first of the five suspects to be tried before U.S. Dist. Judge Bernice Donald starting May 20.

Fares and three other men with ties to the Middle East who lived in New York allegedly came to Memphis in February to illegally get Tennessee licenses with the help of the fifth suspect, Khaled Odtllah of Cordova and state license examiner Katherine Smith.

Asst. U.S. Atty. Tim DiScenza said Friday that Fares was told by co-defendant Sakher A. Hammad in New York about the scheme.

Odtllah was getting the licenses through Smith, who worked at the Summer Avenue testing station, prosecutors charged.

All six were arrested Feb. 5 after FBI agents and Tennessee Highway Patrol investigators watched the men arrive at and leave the testing station. Officials mounted the surveillance after a tip from a New York FBI agent's confidential informant.

The case drew national attention when Smith died in a fiery car crash the day before she was scheduled to appear at a federal court hearing that month.

In arguing against denying the men bail, prosecutors cited Smith's suspicious death and plumbing work one of the suspects did at the World Trade Center days before it was destroyed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.

Neither Smith's death nor the World Trade Center attack was mentioned at Friday's half-hour hearing before U.S. Dist. Judge Julia Gibbons, who accepted Fares's guilty plea in Donald's absence.

Memphis FBI spokesman George Bolds said later that Smith's death remains under investigation and that the agency is not commenting on the probe.

FBI agent J. Suzanne Nash testified at earlier hearings that the fire that killed Smith while she was traveling on U.S. 72 in February was deliberately set with traces of gasoline found on her clothes and in her car.

"It's possible that information pertaining to her death could come out during the trial," Bolds said. "But they are not being charged with causing her death. So, it's not a given that it will."

Donald will sentence Fares later. He faces a maximum term of five years in prison.

Fares said little during the hearing other than answering yes or no to questions from Gibbons after they were relayed to him by phone through an Arabic interpreter.

Fares, 19, was born in Venezuela but his family is from Lebanon. Earlier testimony indicated Fares walked across the Mexican border into the United States after his request for a visa was rejected.

After entering California illegally, he traveled to New York, where he was trying to get a job driving a van but needed a license without having to prove citizenship or legal alien status.

Fares, 19, was born in Venezuela but his family is from Lebanon.

But I thought El Rey Jorge Boosh said that he had border security all tightened up and things like this don't happen anymore.

At least that is what Ashcroft and Zigler are saying!!

Fares walked across the Mexican border into the United States

I wonder why he walked across, he could have just as easily taken a taxi or rode in a bus across. Anyone can get over the Mexican-US border very easily. I worked with a guy from Hong Kong who overstayed a student visa ---but he had no trouble coming back and forth from Hong Kong for visits ---he just came over the Mexican border instead of entering at US airports where he'd have to go through customs that really checked visas.

Let's see:
1)Smith illegally provided licenses,
2)Smith was going to testify in Federal court,
3)Smith dies in a flaming car crash the day before she is to testify,
4)Traces of gasoline are found on Smith and in her car.

The suspects are not being charged in her death.

They'll get six months probation for trying to obtain the licenses

As I recall, Smith was the only one of the 6 charged who was out on bail. The other five were in custody at the time of her death. So unless the hit was directed from a jail cell (unlikely), they are not guilty of (this particular) murder. In fact, Smith's murder was probably intended as an object lesson for the five in custody--something for them to think about when tempted with plea bargains or promises of immunity.

I find it doubtful that Memphis DMV was the only place the scam was run. IMHO, the main motive for Smith's murder was to preserve an ongoing operation.

That it certainly a possibility, and would indicate a larger conspiracy. I'm surprised the article didn't question it.

The way I read the article was this: All were arrested on February 5th. All were released on bail (her crime was more severe and she was released, why not the others?). She was to testify later that month, yet was murdered the day before. The prosecution argued to deny bail on the other defendants based on her death. If they were in jail at the time, why would the prosecution argue this way?

Killing her to teach a lesson would make sense if not for the fact that one of the defendants is expected to testify following his guilty plea well after the "lesson" was taught.

My Tennessee License scandal template:

Feb. 7
Six Charged in Tenn. License Plot [Courtesy of the Tennessee DemocRAT Party]
Feb. 8 (for comedic relief)
Dri ver license fraud case here is a rare incident, state says
Feb. 11
WOMAN ARRESTED FOR AIDING ARABS IN DRIVER'S LICENSE SCAM PRESUMED DEAD
Tennessee finds a cost to easing driver's license rules Some other states, airlines no longer accept (Boston Globe)
Feb. 12
Feds fear license examiner is dead - Memphis Woman's co-defendants tied to 9/11, judge told
Feb. 13:
Body in car identified as license examiner - Update on Memphis, Tennesse License Examiner
Feb. 14
TENN DRIVER LICENSE SCANDAL: FLAMING DEATH NO ACCIDENT, FBI SAYS
TENN DRIVER LICENSE SCANDAL: FLAMING DEATH NO ACCIDENT, FBI SAYS (II)
Flaming death no accident, FBI says - Gasoline found on clothes of license examiner
Feb. 15
New York Times (with Pics of car) F.B.I. Says Arson Killed Woman Accused in License Scheme
Sm ith led low-impact life until arrest, fiery end (Not a thread)
Images of the burned car owned by Katherine Smith * alternate title: How Arabs Kill Witnesses
FBI Agent: Arson Killed Key Suspect (driver's license examiner accused of supplying terrorists)
Feb.16
License suspect had WTC repair pass, but Port Authority did its own work [Tennessee License Scandal]
TE NN DRIVER LICENSE SCANDAL: FLAMING DEATH NO ACCIDENT, FBI SAYS
***FBI checking 5 in illegal-license cases for possible al-Qaida links
Terror Links In Tenn. Mystery? (CBS News)
September 11 link to deadly Tennessee crash? (Black News Weekly - unsure of date)
Feb. 18:
Mourners remember the good deeds of license examiner, not how she died
Feb. 20
State Immigrant I.D. Llicense for Disaster, Foes Say [Tennessee License Scandal - Business as Usual]
Terror in Tennessee? (Front Page magazine)
Feb. 22
Terroris m expert [Steven Emerson] monitors the Mid-South (WMC-TV Memphis 2/23)
Feb. 24:
Caution: Driver license rule-makers at work
Feb. 28
5 men with Mideast ties indicted in license scam
March 6
Patrol says examiner's death not due to crash (+ witness accounts)
March 8
Editorial 3/8: Driver licensing process needs review
***March 13
Three bombs found in MEMPHIS morgue building [ongoing sweep of building]
March 14
MEMPHIS: 'NO HOAX' BOMB FOUND OUTSIDE COUNTY MORGUE
***March 29
S uspect in ID fraud goes free on bond-Dad goes bail; 4 remain jailed (Odtllah has numerous I.D.’s, Child sexual abuse allegation
April 1
Suspect in ID fraud goes free on bond (Tennessee)
April 2
License-fraud suspect denied bond
April 14
D river license suspect denied release
May 11
Licens e plot suspect pleads guilty - Will likely testify against 4 co-defendants

*TN License Scandals

Pics of License Scam suspects

Color Pics of Suspects

Other Stories

I-70 Traffic Stop Turns Up $300K In Cash, Undocumented Jordanian (Al Qaida Operative?) [2/22 Utah] Licenses for undocumented aliens steer legislators both ways - Driving: INS official says passage of bill would make deportation more difficult; proponents say it would give sense of identity (Kansas 2/20)
Immigrant Licenses Debated (ILLEGAL ALIENS... AGAIN )[Kansas 2/20]
***Grass roots, politicians differ on immigration (2/14 plus Grover Norquist Barf Alert)
FBI investigating ‘‘mass destruction’’ inquiry (2/21 Somali asks U. of Memphis professor for weapons advice
GAO Report Finds “Pervasive and Serious Problem”” with Immigration Benefit Fraud Terrorists and Drug Dealers Manipulating Benefits Application Process To Carry Out Criminal Activities
Man on FBI watch list spotted (2/23 Iraqi, with Saddam Connections, in truck with OK lic. Plates, Picking up chemicals in Michigan. Egads!)
Santa Paula Mayor's Wife Target of Probe (Calif. -Selling Drivers Licenses to Illegals)
Phony IDs, Real Danger (CBS 2/26)
NJ Man Charged in Bogus ID Ring Linked to 9/11 Hijackers
Driver's Licenses To Be Easier For Foreigners (New Mex. 2/28)
Nationwide Alert Focuses On Arkansas Document Centers On Fake Ids (3/7)
Man accused of carrying false ID ordered held without bail (Indiana, Pakistan, Guinea 3/13
Jersey City Egyptian Arrested with Fake ID 3/13

And don’t forget the stories about the Microbiologist who “fell” off a Memphis bridge!

Everyone make sure to look at Shermy's template. This gang even tried to blow up the morgue where Ms. Smith was taken. It also is the morgue where the Harvard scientist was taken after his mysterious death! May have been some interesting evidence in that building.

This is one of the biggest stories that you probably never have heard. Steve Emerson of MSNBC and Jihad in America has been to Memphis to investigate.

I haven't looked up that morgue issue for a while. It certainly seemed like it might be somehow connected...even the media reports mentioned that it was the place Katherine Smith was examined. Maybe a warning was given???

Could be unrelated though. Might keep an eye out on the Dutch. Lots of Dutch-Enviralist events lately...Dutch-Enviralist wacko shoots Pim Fortuyn...Dutch-named American Enviralist wacko bombs mailboxes in a "smiley face" pattern...

Keep up the good work. This fellow flipping looks like a big break.

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