Woman charged with selling driver's licenses killed in crash

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- A state employee charged in a scheme with five Middle Eastern men to sell fraudulent Tennessee driver's licenses died in a fiery car crash the day before her first court appearance, authorities said Tuesday.

Prosecutor Tim DiScenza called the crash "most unusual and suspicious" and raised the possibility that five co-defendants could be involved in terrorism against the United States.

Katherine Smith, 49, was killed after the 1992 Acura Legend she was driving ran off the road early Sunday and struck a utility pole on U.S. 72 just north of the Mississippi state line, Highway Patrol Lt. Col. Mark Fagan said.

Her car "was immediately engulfed in flames" but authorities don't know whether the fire started before or after the crash. The body was so badly burned it took authorities until Tuesday to verify Smith's identity. The cause of death remains under investigation.

Smith was one of six people charged last week by federal officials with conspiracy to get Tennessee driver's licenses under false pretenses.

Also charged were Khaled Odtllah, 31, of Shelby County; Sakhera Hammad, 24, of New York City; and Mohammed Fares, Mostafa Said Abou-Shahin and Abdelmuhsen Mahmid Hammad. Authorities didn't provide ages for the last three and said they admitted being in the country illegally.

At a federal court hearing Monday for Odtllah and Hammad, FBI agent J. Suzanne Nash testified that when Smith was arrested last week she had told authorities she was buying an Acura Legend from Odtllah.

Nash said authorities were trying to determined what caused the car to burn. The gas tank did not explode and the car was only slightly dented from the crash, she said.

Nash also said when Sakhera Hammad was arrested, investigators found a visitor's pass for the World Trade Center, dated Sept. 5, 2001, in his wallet.

Sakhera Hammad told authorities he was a plumber and worked on the center's sprinkler system. He said Abdelmuhsen Mahmid Hammad was a cousin who worked with him, Nash said.

Nash said federal authorities also learned that Odtllah had drive to Memphis from New York City on Sept. 11.

Anthony Helm, attorney for Odtllah, asked Nash, "You certainly don't have any indication any of these fellows is a terrorist, do you?"

"Not at this time, no sir," Nash said.

The FBI, however, is investigating whether the men have terrorist ties, authorities confirmed.

The case broke last week when authorities staked out the driver's license office where Smith worked on a tip from the FBI in New York that several illegal immigrants from the Middle East were traveling to Memphis to illegally obtain state IDs, Nash said.

Smith, a driver's license examiner for nine years, told authorities that Odtllah was a friend who had asked her to help him obtain driver's licenses six or seven times, Nash said.

Odtllah, who his attorney said came to this country from Jerusalem 13 years ago, has lived in Shelby County 2 1/2 years. Until a few months ago, he owned a Phillips 66 gas station and he also buys and sells cars, Nash said.

Sakhera Hammad is from Jordan, but has become a U.S. citizen said his father, Peter Hansen of New York who attended the hearing. Nash said Abou-Shahin told authorities he was from Egypt and is a carpenter. Fares has a Venezuelan passport, but speaks Arabic, DiScenza said.

Odtllah and Sakhera Hammad led the driver's license scheme with Odtllah handling the arrangements with Smith while Hammad drove the other suspects from New York, Nash said.

She said that Odtllah received $1,000 per license and Hammad would receive any amount paid over $1,000.

Smith had assigned four driver's license numbers in the station's computer system using forms filled out by Odtllah, Nash said. But only Fares's license showed his correct name. The other three applications contained fictitious and "totally untraceable" names, DiScenza said.

Nash said Sakhera Hammad told her he came to Tennessee to get driver's licenses only to help people have identification so they can get jobs.

U.S. Magistrate Diane Vescovo continued the hearing until Wednesday for Abou-Shanin, Abdelmuhsen Mahmid Hammad and Fares, primarily to arrange for an Arabic interpreter. She ordered Odtllah and Sakhera Hammad held without bond until their trial.