Man Pleads Guilty in Immigration Fraud

An illegal immigrant from Tunisia, one of more than 1,180 people detained by U.S. officials in the search for members of the Al Qaeda terrorist network, pleaded guilty in Los Angeles on Friday to charges that he used phony documents to get a job in a food market.

Sami Med Fathi ben Hafaiedh, 28, faces up to six months behind bars when he is sentenced Feb. 11 in federal court.

After his prison term, he is expected to be deported to his homeland.

Hafaiedh’s lawyer, Deputy Federal Public Defender Mary Kelly, said her client “is befuddled that he’s been mixed up in all this,” referring to the terrorism investigation.

She said he has no connection with terrorists, is lonely for his family and wants to go home to Tunisia.

Immigration agents arrested Hafaiedh in September at the Glendale food market where he worked, saying he had overstayed his tourist visa. He was freed on $5,000 bail while awaiting deportation, an administrative procedure.

He was rearrested a month later and indicted on three felony counts accusing him of using a counterfeit immigrant registration card, supplying a false Social Security number to his employer and falsely stating that he was a permanent legal resident.

Hafaiedh, who is being held without bail, pleaded guilty Friday to the first two counts.

The federal prosecutor assigned to the case, Garth Hire, told U.S. District Judge Manuel Real that the government might consider taking Hafaiedh to trial on the remaining count.

“That’s like carrying coals to Newcastle,” said Real, suggesting that a full-blown trial would be overkill.

Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, federal authorities have detained more than 1,180 people under broad, new powers to investigate suspected terrorists and their supporters.

About 400 detainees have been freed and an additional 104 have been charged with an assortment of crimes, mostly unrelated to terrorist activities, according to Justice Department figures released this week.

Some civil libertarians, Islamic groups and members of Congress have criticized Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft for the mass detentions, mostly of young Arab men. Ashcroft said they are intended to thwart terrorist attacks.