Fraudulent-license seekers sentenced to time served (Tennessee)

Memphis Commercial Appeal ^ | June 28, 2002 | Bill Dries

[sarcasm]

Four members of a fraudulent driver's license ring were sentenced Thursday to the nearly five months they've spent in prison awaiting trial on the federal conspiracy charge.

Khaled Odtllah, head of the scheme to get the New York City men Tennessee driver's licenses with a phony Cordova address, was released hours after being sentenced by U.S. Dist. Judge Bernice Donald.

But his three co-defendants - Mohammed Fares, Abdelmuhsen Mahmid Hammad and Mostafa Said Abou-Shahin - remained in custody to face deportation, a process that could take a year.

They were in the country illegally at the time of their arrest in February.

Odtllah, who lived in Cordova before his arrest, has permanent resident status.

"Under the circumstances I think this was the best possible outcome," Odtllah's attorney Anthony Helm said of the time-served sentence.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, the maximum sentence for each of the four would have been six months in prison because none had felony convictions.

The four defendants and fifth suspect, Sakher Hammad of Jordan, pleaded guilty in May to conspiring to fraudulently obtain driver's licenses. Sakher Hammad, who is free on bond, will be sentenced in August.

The case drew national attention when Katherine Smith, the Memphis driver's license examiner accused of being Odtllah's inside source for the licenses, died in a fiery car crash the day before her first court appearance.

Adding another twist, Sakher Hammad had a visitor's pass to the World Trade Center dated just days before the terrorist attack.

The guilty pleas and conspiracy charge made no mention of Smith's death or terrorist acts that prosecutors highlighted in the early stages of the case.

Asst. U.S. Atty. Tim DiScenza declined comment after the hearings on Smith's death and the continuing investigation into her death. Federal investigators have said the fire that burned Smith alive in her car was deliberately set and that traces of gasoline were found.

After the guilty pleas, a defense attorney released a letter purportedly written by Smith the day of her arrest and five days before her death in which she wrote she had "lost everything" and "can't live without any honor."

[honway]

Mostafa Said Abou-Shahin, left
Abdelmuhsen Mahmid Hammad, right

[honway]

LAST LICENSE FRAUD SUSPECT SENTENCED TO TIME SERVED, PROBATION

Published on August 20, 2002.

SOURCE: Lela Garlington
The last of the driver's license fraud suspects - Sakher Hammad - was placed on two years' probation Monday and was sentenced to time served.

Four of the other defendants also were sentenced to time served earlier. Three are still being held and are facing deportation for being in the country illegally.

"I want to get on with my life," Hammad told U.S. Dist. Judge Bernice Donald.

After the Jordanian naturalized citizen was arrested in February, Hammad, 25, of...
225 words, Commercial Appeal, The (Memphis, TN

[honway]

This article is © 2002- Commercial Appeal, The (Memphis, TN)

Commercial Appeal, The (Memphis, TN)
LAST LICENSE FRAUD SUSPECT SENTENCED TO TIME SERVED, PROBATION

Date:August 20, 2002
Section: Metro
Page: B2

Source: Lela Garlington

Memo: METRO & MID-SOUTH BRIEFS
Edition: Final





The last of the driver's license fraud suspects - Sakher Hammad - was placed on two years' probation Monday and was sentenced to time served.


Four of the other defendants also were sentenced to time served earlier. Three are still being held and are facing deportation for being in the country illegally.

"I want to get on with my life," Hammad told U.S. Dist. Judge Bernice Donald.

After the Jordanian naturalized citizen was arrested in February, Hammad, 25, of Brooklyn was held in prison for 51 days until he made bond. Although federal prosecutors initially hinted that the case might be tied to the World Trade Center disaster, there was no evidence any were involved in terrorist activities.

The death of Katherine Smith, the Memphis driver's license examiner accused of being the inside source for the licenses, remains unsolved. She died in a fiery car crash the day before her first court appearance in February.

[honway]

The last of the driver's license fraud suspects - Sakher Hammad - was placed on two years' probation Monday and was sentenced to time served.

After the Jordanian naturalized citizen was arrested in February, Hammad, 25, of Brooklyn was held in prison for 51 days until he made bond.

The death of Katherine Smith, the Memphis driver's license examiner accused of being the inside source for the licenses, remains unsolved. She died in a fiery car crash the day before her first court appearance in February.

[honway]

Sakher Hammad was the unlicensed plumber with a work pass for the World Trade Center dated September 5,2001 in his possession. A souvenier of his work on the sprinkler systems in the WTC. The FEMA report concluded the sprinkler systems were disabled in the WTC.

[honway]

Medical Examiner Attacked, Tied to Bomb Outside Office [Memphis, again!]
The Commercial Appeal ^ | June 2, 2002 | Yolanda Jones


Posted on 06/02/2002 1:46 PM CDT by willieroe


An unknown assailant attacked the Shelby County medical examiner late Saturday, wrapping him with barbed wire and strapping a bomb to his chest before leaving him in a stairwell outside his downtown Memphis office.


Dr. O. C. Smith received minor injuries from the attack that included chemical burns. His attacker threw an acid type substance on Smith's face as he left work at 1060 Madison around 10 p.m.


Smith was found by a security guard shortly after midnight.


This is the second time in the last three months an explosive device or bomb has been found at the Shelby County Regional Forensic Center, which houses the morgue and Smith's office.

[aristeides]

There's an interesting discussion of this case in Michelle Malkin's Invasion. Apparently, that's quite a racket they've had giving licenses to illegals down in Tennessee. Bunch of people, including Gov. Sundquist, supported the change in TN law that made the racket possible.

[honway]

Dr. O. C. Smith was still working on the autopsy for Katherine Smith when the attack occurred in June. She was burned alive with gasoline in February in one of the defendant's cars(Odtlah). In June Dr. Smith had not determined if it was suicide or homicide.

The entire Memphis driver's license case combined with the FBI Headquarter's refusal to allow the Minneapolis field office to look at the Moussaoui laptop prior to 9-11 has some very disturbing implications.

[Shermy]

Perhaps she learned much about that here. Some knowledgeable Tee'ans post at FR.

[honway]

There's an interesting discussion of this case in Michelle Malkin's Invasion

Is the WTC connection explored? Specifically the story how in court the WTC pass was explained away by a letter from a man using an alias claiming the unlicensed Hammad cousins were working for a non-existent Denko Mechanical company.

[aristeides]

Malkin does mention the WTC pass (p. 36 of the book, if you want to take a look,) but she doesn't go into detail about it.

[Fred Mertz]

This is difficult to swallow. Thanks for the informative thread.

[Lion's Cub]

Thanks for the ping. Looks like I had the right Peter Hansen way back when, after all.

Yes, the implications are stunning. We are sold out, infiltrated, and manipulated up to the very highest levels.

We haven't got a chance, short of the grace of God.

[honway]

We haven't got a chance, short of the grace of God.

Thank you for putting it all in perspective in these troubling times.