spectr17
10-22-2001, 12:41 AM
Thursday October 18 11:54 PM ET.
Pakistani Pleads Not Guilty in Delaware Arms Case
By Rita Farrell
WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) - A Pakistani man with an expired visa pleaded not guilty in federal court in Delaware on Thursday to illegal possession of firearms, charges for which he has been imprisoned for nearly a month.
His roommate and fellow Pakistani, Syed Hassan, 23, told Reuters that Raza Nasir Khan was arrested on Sept. 25 because of the hijack attacks on New York and Washington two weeks earlier.
``This is because of Raza's skin color and his goatee. He looks more like Arabic people than Pakistani,'' Hassan said.
On Sept. 19, a Delaware Fish and Game ranger became suspicious when Khan asked for maps of the Cedar Swamp Area hunting park to locate deer stands deep in the woods.
The ranger said he called the FBI (news - web sites) because Khan was dark-skinned and was carrying a small Global Positioning System device and because Cedar Swamp was directly across the Delaware River from the Salem Nuclear Power Plant in New Jersey.
``With these facts and with the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon (news - web sites), the (ranger) felt he needed to notify a federal agency,'' Special Agent Veronica Hnat of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said in court papers.
Hnat signed a criminal complaint against Khan days after the FBI and U.S. marshals searched his Wilmington apartment with his consent and said they found four long guns and a handgun.
Kahn, 29, was arrested because it is against the law for illegal immigrants to possess firearms.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Pat Thynge denied Khan bail in his initial appearance before her on Sept 28. On Thursday, Thynge said she would reconsider the detention ruling at a hearing on Oct. 26.
If convicted of illegal possession, Khan, who has no criminal record, would probably serve no more than 12 months of a maximum possible sentence of 10 years, his attorney, John Malik, said.
Pakistani Pleads Not Guilty in Delaware Arms Case
By Rita Farrell
WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) - A Pakistani man with an expired visa pleaded not guilty in federal court in Delaware on Thursday to illegal possession of firearms, charges for which he has been imprisoned for nearly a month.
His roommate and fellow Pakistani, Syed Hassan, 23, told Reuters that Raza Nasir Khan was arrested on Sept. 25 because of the hijack attacks on New York and Washington two weeks earlier.
``This is because of Raza's skin color and his goatee. He looks more like Arabic people than Pakistani,'' Hassan said.
On Sept. 19, a Delaware Fish and Game ranger became suspicious when Khan asked for maps of the Cedar Swamp Area hunting park to locate deer stands deep in the woods.
The ranger said he called the FBI (news - web sites) because Khan was dark-skinned and was carrying a small Global Positioning System device and because Cedar Swamp was directly across the Delaware River from the Salem Nuclear Power Plant in New Jersey.
``With these facts and with the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon (news - web sites), the (ranger) felt he needed to notify a federal agency,'' Special Agent Veronica Hnat of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said in court papers.
Hnat signed a criminal complaint against Khan days after the FBI and U.S. marshals searched his Wilmington apartment with his consent and said they found four long guns and a handgun.
Kahn, 29, was arrested because it is against the law for illegal immigrants to possess firearms.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Pat Thynge denied Khan bail in his initial appearance before her on Sept 28. On Thursday, Thynge said she would reconsider the detention ruling at a hearing on Oct. 26.
If convicted of illegal possession, Khan, who has no criminal record, would probably serve no more than 12 months of a maximum possible sentence of 10 years, his attorney, John Malik, said.