Posted on 02/18/2002 3:35:49 PM PST by testforecho
Possible plea deal reported in driver's license scam
PITTSBURGH (AP) - A fired Pennsylvania driver's license examiner charged with selling bogus licenses to 20 Middle Eastern men could receive a reduced sentence because he cooperated with authorities after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Teitelbaum told a federal judge Friday that his office would accept a sentence of 18 to 24 months in prison for Robert Ferrari, 57, of Turtle Creek, as part of a possible plea-bargain.
"On Sept. 23, the FBI appealed to him as an American and he made a full statement," Ferrari's attorney Bruce Antkowiak told U.S. District Judge Robert Cindrich on Friday.
Ferrari was indicted by a federal grand jury in October on charges that he sold commercial driver's licenses to 20 Iraqi immigrants who didn't take the proper tests between July 1999 and February 2000. Eighteen of those men got licenses that allowed them to transport hazardous materials.
The Iraqi men were arrested in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas and Washington state in late September amid reports that terrorists linked to the Sept. 11 attacks might be planning strikes involving trucks hauling hazardous materials. Two of the Iraqi men have pleaded guilty.
The tentative plea bargain discussed at Friday's pretrial conference hinges on whether state prosecutors agree to the same terms.
Antkowiak told Cindrich that state prosecutors have backed off their demands that Ferrari serve three to six years in prison and are willing to let Ferrari receive credit for an 18- to 24-month state sentence while he serves an identical term in federal prison.
Kevin Harley, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, wouldn't say if state prosecutors have agreed to the combined plea bargain.
Harley said, however, that "after Sept. 11. the level of cooperation from Mr. Ferrari and other witnesses increased substantially."
The federal charges grew out of an earlier investigation by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office.
State prosecutors deferred to federal authorities after the Sept. 11 attacks because of the large number of Middle Eastern men who allegedly bought licenses from Ferrari - and because bogus commercial driver's licenses also fall under federal jurisdiction because they affect interstate commerce.
After the FBI ruled out any terrorist links among the Iraqi men who bought the licenses, state officials in November charged Ferrari with 56 third-degree felony counts of unlawful use of a computer and the same number of felony charges for tampering with public records for selling licenses.
Many of the state charges allegedly involve native-born Americans who allegedly bought licenses from Ferrari after losing their real licenses due to drunken driving or other infractions.
No date has been set for Ferrari's possible change of plea and sentencing. Ferrari refused comment at the hearing.
Hard Labor, bread and water once a week, and if any of those Scamed Licenses were involved in 9/11, a sitdown on old Sparkie!
one day for each Dead American times each license!!
Which should equal in the area of 169 years!!!
It's getting bigger and bigger.
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