By Dustin Brown
An Egyptian man living in Astoria has consented to deportation after admitting he received government identification cards under an assumed name while staying in the country on an expired tourist visa, the Queens district attorney said.
Hassan Abdelhamid, 29, of 26-67 30th St., pleaded guilty to false document-filing charges at a hearing last week before Queens Supreme Court Justice Joseph Grasso, who said he would impose a sentence of six months in prison.
He has waived his right to an Immigration and Naturalization Services administrative hearing and agreed to immediate deportation back to Egypt on grounds he overstayed his visa, Queens DA Richard Brown said.
Abdelhamid’s June 18 arrest at his Astoria home was part of a sweeping effort to crack down on false documents by the Governor’s Fraudulent Identification Task Force, a coalition of governmental agencies led by the Queens DA’s office. The group has arrested 225 people since February, shuttering dozens of fake ID mills and recovering thousands of forged documents.
“False and forged identification documents give terrorists and other criminals the ability to hide their identities and conceal their activities,” Brown said in a release. “In this instance the defendant was pulled out of his dark little corner, the mask was ripped off his face and he was exposed to the powerful searchlight of prosecution.”
Abdelhamid admitted to using false information when he filed three applications to obtain a New York State identification card, a Social Security card and a Federal Aviation Administration student pilot’s license, Brown said.
Abdelhamid entered the country through California in 1995, where he received a Social Security card and California driver’s license in his actual name. Upon moving to New York in 1996 he continued to use his real name on his New York driver’s license and for a student pilot’s license three years later.
He then used a false name, Hassan Eldin, to apply for a second Social Security card in April 2001, Brown said. Within the next few months he received a state learner’s permit and student pilot certificate with the fake name and Social Security number.
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
