Pakistani Admits Lying About Bridge Bomb Plot

A Pakistani admitted Wednesday that he lied to FBI agents when he told them of a plot to blow up the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge with stolen gasoline tanker trucks.

Tanveer Choudhry, 32, of Brooklyn, faces deportation after pleading guilty to the charge of giving false information to federal investigators.

Choudhry was arrested last month on charges he fabricated a story that two men he met at a gas station where he worked wanted to blow up the bridge.

Officials contend Choudhry concocted the idea to help improve his chances of winning political asylum.

According to a criminal complaint filed at the time of his arrest, Choudhry told the FBI that the hijackers were involved in a terrorist plot and wanted to drive the stolen trucks onto the bridge and detonate them.

In an appearance Wednesday before Federal Magistrate Judge Marilyn Go, Choudhry admitted he had lied about the plot and said he had only abstract discussions with the men, identified by officials as “Ibn-Ul-Haisam” and “Tariq.”

“We talked about a story in the news about limousines packed with explosives being used as weapons,” he said in a statement read in court. “At no time did Haisam ever indicate that he intended to carry out such a plan.”

Choudhry, who emigrated from Pakistan in 2000, has two children who are U.S. citizens. He faces up to six months in prison when he is sentenced later this month, and deportation when his sentence is complete, officials said.