ALEXANDRIA - Two Northern Virginia residents were charged yesterday with helping the Sept. 11 terrorist-hijackers obtain bogus Virginia identification cards.
Luis Martinez-Flores, 28, of Falls Church, who authorities said is an illegal immigrant, and Kenys A. Galicia, a secretary in a Falls Church lawyers' office, were charged with exploiting a loophole in state Department of Motor Vehicles rules allowing the hijackers to obtain fraudulent ID cards.
The loophole is now closed.
Martinez-Flores and Galicia appeared yesterday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria and were ordered held without bond pending detention hearings tomorrow morning.
They are the second and third people charged in Alexandria in connection with the deadly attacks in which hijacked jetliners smashed into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.
Last week, authorities arrested Herbert Villalobos, 37, of Washington, on charges he helped at least two of the hijackers fraudulently obtain Virginia identification cards.
Picture identification
All three suspects are charged with abusing former DMV rules that had allowed applicants to obtain a Virginia driver's license or identification card without documents such as a license from another state or a utility bill.
Instead, the applicants could establish identity with a notarized identity form signed by a lawyer, and residency with a notarized residence form signed by a state resident.
Most other states require a picture identification for identity and a lease or utility bill as proof of residence. While authorities do not believe that Martinez-Flores, Villalobos or Galicia were directly involved in the terrorist attacks, holding an apparently valid identification card would have allowed the hijackers to pass more easily through airport security checkpoints.
According to court papers made public yesterday, Martinez-Flores signed residency forms on Aug. 1 certifying that Hani Hanjour and Khalid Almihdhar were Virginia residents. The form signed by Martinez-Flores said Hanjour and Almihdhar lived in a Falls Church apartment where Martinez-Flores used to reside. Martinez-Flores was paid $100 by the two men, court papers said.
Hanjour and Almihdhar were believed to be among five terrorists who hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 from Dulles International Airport and crashed it into the Pentagon, killing 189 people. DMV records show that the two men, both Saudi Arabian nationals, were issued Virginia identification cards Aug. 1 at the DMV office in Springfield, court papers said.
The two men, in turn, used their new cards to assist three other hijackers obtain bogus identification cards. Majed Moqed and Salem Alhazmi, who also were aboard American Airlines Flight 77, received identification cards at the DMV office in Arlington County on Aug. 2. Moqed's residency form was signed by Hanjour, while Alhazmi's residency form was signed by Almihdhar, court papers said.
In addition, Hanjour signed a residency form that allowed Ziad Jarrah to obtain a Virginia identification card Aug. 29 at the Springfield DMV office. Jarrah is among the terrorists accused of hijacking American Airlines Flight 93, which crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pa., killing everyone on board.
Cooperating with the FBI
Court papers said Martinez-Flores, who is cooperating with the FBI, was standing in a 7-Eleven store parking lot in Falls Church on the morning of Aug. 1, looking for day work, when two Arab men drove into the lot in a van. They asked the mostly Hispanic men gathered there whether they would be willing to sign the DMV residency documents, according to the papers.
Two day laborers refused, but Martinez-Flores agreed to assist the men, court papers said. He climbed into the van, and the three men drove to the DMV office in Springfield. There, Martinez-Flores helped the men fill out the required DMV paperwork and signed the residency forms. The three men then returned to the 7-Eleven, where Hanjour and Almihdhar went inside, withdrew $100 from an ATM machine and gave the cash to Martinez-Flores.
Martinez-Flores was taken into custody by the Immigration and Naturalization Service on Sept. 15 and has been placed in deportation proceedings.
Meanwhile, Galicia, a notary public, is accused of assisting hundreds of people to obtain fraudulent Virginia identification cards and driver's licenses in the past two years. A witness who is cooperating with the FBI said Galicia sold him more than 200 residency forms, blank except for Galicia's notary seal and signature, since 1999. The witness, in turn, sold the forms on the street, according to court papers. The witness was arrested then convicted earlier this year on identification fraud charges.
Maximum penalty 15 years
In addition to selling the blank residency forms, court papers said that on Aug. 2, Galicia notarized both DMV identification and residency forms for hijackers Abdulaziz Alomari and Ahmed Salem Alghamdi. The men had been brought to Galicia's office by Villalobos and another man, court papers said.
Alomari was on board American Airlines Flight 11, which was hijacked from Boston and crashed into the World Trade Center's north tower. Alghamdi is believed to be among the terrorists who commandeered United Airlines Flight 175 and slammed it into the World Trade Center's south tower.
The fraud charges carry a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
Holy shit!
It's gotten that bad??
Northern Virginia has fallen south of the border?!?!?!?