Illegal immigrant with pilot gear set for trial in March
Mahmoud Maawad, 29, is charged with using a fake Social Security number to open a bank account and register as a student at the University of Memphis.
He was ordered held without bond in September after authorities told a federal magistrate that Maawad has been in the United States illegally since 1999, has no legal means of support and no family in Memphis.
An FBI agent assigned to an anti-terrorism task force said Maawad drew attention when he used a depleted bank account to make Internet orders of instructional DVDs on how to act like an airline pilot and how to work the controls of an airplane.
Maawad also possessed “terminal area charts” of the Memphis airport, the agent testified at a detention hearing.
Authorities said they had no evidence directly linking Maawad to terrorists but asked for his detention as a precaution. He faces deportation regardless of how the criminal charges are resolved.
At a brief hearing before Judge Bernice Donald, Maawad complained that he is being held in isolation at a federal prison, with no contact with other inmates.
He also asked for a trial soon, adding that he hopes to get probation if convicted on the Social Security charge.
“Yes, I want to go to trial,” he said over a video hookup with the courtroom.
He groaned loudly when told he was being put on the court docket for March, with no specific trial date set.
“This is very hard,” he said. “That would be very long time.”
Authorities say Maawad came to the United States on a visitor’s visa and stayed on illegally after it expired.
He briefly enrolled at two community colleges in New Jersey before moving to Memphis.
A company that sells aviation gear reported Maawad to authorities when he failed to pay for $3,000 worth of items ordered over the Internet.