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Virginia man pleads guilty in role helping suspected hijackers

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (CNN) -- A Salvadoran immigrant pleaded guilty Tuesday to having helped two of the suspected September 11 hijackers obtain false identification cards.

Herbert Villalobos, 35, of Alexandria entered his plea through an interpreter in a federal courtroom in Alexandria.

The man, whose immigration status is permanent legal alien. admitted that on August 2 he drove alleged hijackers Abdul Azziz Alomari and Ahmed Saleh Alghambi to a local attorney's office to obtain forms for Virginia identification documents.

EXTRA INFORMATION Criminal complaint: U.S. v. Villalobos (PDF format)  FindLaw document     LEGAL RESOURCES Latest Legal News Law Library FindLaw Consumer Center Select a topic Bankruptcy Discrimination Divorce Estate Planning Landlord-Tenant Personal Injury Taxes

Although the charge, production of false identification documents, carries a maximum sentence of 15 years, the defense attorney for Villalobos expressed confidence he would receive a relatively light sentence in a hearing set for February 1.

Lawyer Patrick Anderson said "my client had absolutely no connection to the events of September 11," and said Villalobos was horrified at the events that happened.

Anderson, speaking with reporters outside the courthouse after the proceeding, said he was "satisfied" with the way his client was handled in the government's investigation of the 911 attacks.

However he blasted the government's overall practice of arrest and detentions now under way. Anderson said "the attacks on our civil liberties, once they're taken away from us, we can never get them back."