dictionary

Phony Egyptian pilot convicted of lying to FBI

Kishk has been in solitary confinement for four months.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- An Egyptian man arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport the week after the September 11 attacks was found guilty Thursday of lying to federal agents.

Wael Abdel Rahman Kishk, 21, was acquitted on a second charge, that of possessing a fake pilot's certificate. Sentencing is set for February 18.

"We're pleased with the verdict," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton. "The message is clear: If you lie to agents in the midst of an investigation you'll be prosecuted and convicted."

He said he was not surprised at the split verdict "in light of the evidence before the jury,"

Although the maximum sentence on the lying charge is five years in prison, sentencing guidelines call for no more than six months under normal circumstances. Kishk has already been jailed for four months, all of that in solitary confinement.

The jury returned its verdict after about a day of deliberations, which began Wednesday after a three-day trial in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.

Kishk was one of hundreds of people detained after September 11 because of suspected links to terrorism, but prosecutors stipulated at the trial that no evidence existed that Kishk was connected to the September 11 hijackers or was part of any suspected "second wave" of attacks.

Kishk's arrived in New York on September 19 aboard an Iberian Airlines flight from Barcelona, Spain. Immigration and Naturalization Service agents questioned him and inspected his luggage.

LEGAL RESOURCES Latest Legal News Law Library FindLaw Consumer Center Select a topic Bankruptcy Discrimination Divorce Estate Planning Landlord-Tenant Personal Injury Taxes

Inside his suitcase, INS agents discovered two copies of a Federal Aviation Administration form issued to pilots and flight students to verify that they have met certain medical requirements.

The two versions of the form, 8500-9, were filled out with contradictory information. Kishk's name, date of birth, and his hair and eye color were different on each, according to testimony by FBI agent Kevin Frazer, who interrogated Kishk at the airport.

Frazer testified that one form appeared to be authentic, while the other was "an obvious forgery." In closing arguments to the jury, Holton said Kishk intended to use the forged certificate to pass himself off as a pilot. The suspect document listed his age as 23, the minimum age required for commercial pilots in the United States.

This was not the first visit to the United States for Kishk, who was traveling with a valid visa issued in December 1999.

During a previous visit, Kishk enrolled at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, for pilot training. But his English was inadequate, so he took English language courses instead, with an eye toward being accepted later for pilot training.

Michael Schneider, Kishk's court-appointed defense attorney, told the jury the FAA certificate in question was so poorly forged that Kishk's intention was not to impersonate a pilot, but rather to impress his friends.

The accusation of lying to the FBI stems from Kishk's repeatedly telling agents that he came to the United States to study business administration at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, Washington.

When pressed by investigators, Kishk admitted that he was heading there to take flight classes taught by Embry-Riddle instructors.

During the trial, U.S. District Judge Charles Sifton granted a defense request to instruct the jury not to consider other items found in Kishk's luggage, including a fake Egyptian pilot's uniform and pilot wings lapel pin, because those items would prejudice the jury into thinking Kishk was tied to the September 11 attacks.

-- CNN's Evan Pressman contributed to this report.