Elzahabi
sentenced to time served for possessing fraudulent immigration
documents
United States District Court Judge John Tunheim today sentenced
a 44-year-old Minneapolis man to time served and two years of
supervised release for possessing fraudulent immigration documents.
Elzahabi, who has been in custody since May 2004, will be turned
over to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
who will determine whether or not Elzahabi will remain in the
country or be deported.
In August 2007, a jury convicted Mohamed Kamal Elzahabi, also
known as Abu Kamal al Lubnani, on three counts of possession
of false immigration documents following a four-day trial. The
jury deliberated for about eight hours before rendering its decision.
Court
documents and evidence at trial showed that on Sept. 6, 2001;
Sept. 21, 2001; and Feb. 7, 2002, Elzahabi used an alien registration
receipt card, commonly referred to as a “green
card,” as evidence of his eligibility to stay and work
in this country. That card, however, was obtained by fraud.
Specifically,
the card was authorized because of Elzahabi’s
1984 marriage to a U.S. citizen. That marriage occurred, however,
only after Elzahabi paid a dancer at the Pink Pussy Cat Club
in Houston, Texas, to become his bride for the sole purpose of
evading immigration laws and obtaining an alien registration
card. Elzahabi never lived with the woman as her husband, but
he made statements to the contrary on his immigration petition.
This
case was the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, ICE, Citizenship and Immigration Services,
the Minneapolis Police Department, the Boston Police Department,
and the Matagorda County Sheriff’s Office in
Texas.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney
Anders Folk and U.S. Department of Justice Trial Attorney John
Van Lonkhuyzen.