Onetime Terrorist Suspect Indicted

A federal grand jury has indicted a South African woman originally suspected of terrorist links for immigration violations, officials said Thursday.

Farida Goolam Mahomed Ahmed, 48, was charged with illegal entry into the United States, altering a passport and lying to a federal officer.

Ahmed was detained July 19 while boarding a flight from McAllen, Texas, to New York because she had no visa. Her passport was missing several pages and she had tickets and itineraries indicating she had traveled from South Africa, to the United Arab Emirates to London and on to Mexico City.

An FBI affidavit said Ahmed admitted she entered the U.S. illegally by crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into Texas.

Her arrest touched off a flurry of leaks and official statements indicating that she could be the vanguard of terrorists bent on crossing the U.S. southern border to wreak havoc.

Rep. Solomon Ortiz, a Texas Democrat, told reporters at one point that she was on a watch list for suspected terrorists.

But authorities backpedaled from those allegations as the investigation progressed and the indictment released Thursday accused her only of being an illegal immigrant, not the threat to the United States that authorities originally indicated.

When asked if Ahmed might face additional charges, a spokeswoman at the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of Texas declined comment, except to say the case had been “thoroughly investigated.”

Ahmed will appear before a U.S. magistrate today for arraignment. She could face more than 15 years in prison and $500,000 in fines if convicted on the immigration charges.