Free Republic

One of five suspects in a drivers license fraud ring was released Thursday after his father agreed to put up property, including his Staten Island home, as bond. Federal prosecutor Tim DiScenza dropped opposition to Sakher A. Hammad's release after his father, Peter Hansen, a civil engineer employed by New York City government, signed the $250,000 bond. But DiScenza fought a bid for bail by co-defendant Khaled Odtllah. U.S. Dist. Judge Bernice Donald is scheduled to rule Monday on that matter. DiScenza also told Donald that the government wants separate trials in rapid succession for the five defendants, with Odtllah,...

Five New York City men with ties to the Middle East were indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday for their part in an alleged scheme to fraudulently obtain Tennessee driver's licenses. In the indictment on one count of conspiracy to commit fraud, federal authorities shed no new light on the death of state license examiner Katherine Smith. Smith and the five men were charged in a Feb. 6 criminal complaint on an identical conspiracy charge. Smith died Feb. 10 in a fiery car crash on U.S. 72 in Fayette County, the day before she was to appear at a ...

A photo ID pass for Sept. 5 found on one of the men charged with fraudulently obtaining a Tennessee driver's license from a Memphis woman gave him access to the six underground levels of the One World Center building. But which tenant hired Sakher 'Rocky' Hammad, 24, to work on its sprinklers is lost, said Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokesman Alan Hicks on Friday. Hammad told federal authorities that he was working on the sprinklers six days before the twin towers were brought down by terrorists, court testimony revealed this week. But Hicks said the Port ...

Slight Problem with New Submarine - It LeaksFri Mar 8, 7:21 AM ETOTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's decision to buy four cut-price submarines from Britain looked a little soggy after one of the vessels sprang two leaks on its very first training exercise. Commander Bill Woodburn, in charge of Canada's submarines, insisted on Thursday that HMCS Windsor had been in no danger during Monday's exercise. But the problem was a further embarrassment for a purchase that is becoming a public relations nightmare. The Windsor is one of four mothballed diesel-powered submarines that Canada bought from Britain in 1998 for C$750 million...