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Terror Charges Dropped Against Two Cell Phone Suspects
Prosecutors In Michigan Stand By Charges Against Three Others

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/9682097/detail.html

DETROIT -- Federal authorities told local law enforcement last winter to be on the lookout for people buying large numbers of prepaid cell phones. Authorities in Michigan and Ohio were clearly listening: They arrested five men doing just that last week and charged them with terrorism-related offenses.

But on Monday, an Ohio prosecutor said he was dropping the charges he brought against two Dearborn men because he could not prove a terrorism link. Supporters of the five men have said all along their only purpose was to make money through a perfectly legitimate business and that they were targeted because of their Arab descent.

Prosecutors in Michigan were standing by the charges against three Texas men, though they have not said what they believe the men intended to do with the phones. The men's lawyer said he believed they too were wrongly targeted.

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TracFone Wireless Inc. sells prepaid cell phones at major retailers like Wal-Mart. The Nokia or Motorola handsets are heavily subsidized and come with limited minutes. The company makes money when customers purchase additional minutes from TracFone.

In a statement, Miami, Fla.-based TracFone said it was aware that people buy the phones in bulk in order to remove the TracFone software -- often called "unlocking" a phone -- and resell the handsets.

The modified handsets can be used with any cellular provider, not just TracFone, said Michael Vargas, a 26-year-old New Yorker who said he is in the business of buying and reselling the phones. Wal-Mart and other stores sell the TracFones for about $20, he said.

The company believes the practice violates its intellectual property, spokesman Derek Hewitt said. He said the company has brought civil lawsuits in some instances.

There has been no definitive court ruling on the legality of unlocking phones. Consumer advocates maintain locking the phones in the first place is illegal.

The FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent out joint bulletins in February and March to police departments nationwide warning about the bulk purchase of TracFones for personal profit or financing terrorism, according to FBI agent Mike Brooks and Susan Raber, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Homeland Security.

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