Ex-airport workers accept plea bargains

Jace Radke

Thursday, April 18, 2002 | 9:16 a.m.

The last of 21 former McCarran International Airport employees nabbed in a January security sweep pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court to misdemeanor charges of using counterfeit Social Security cards.

A plea agreement resulted in all 21 being sentenced to time served, but they will still face deportation proceedings, Immigration and Naturalization Officer in Charge Karen Dorman said.

The workers could have faced as much as a year in prison and a $100,000 fine for being in possession of and using a fake Social Security card, but because none of the defendants had prior criminal histories, federal prosecutors recommended that they be sentenced to time served, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sharon Lever said.

The workers came from such countries as Mexico, Colombia and Malaysia. Many of them had been living and working in the United States for years, including Alsrap Abdul Karim, 41, who graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of Mississippi and was a supervisor at one of McCarran's parking garages, Karim's attorney Lyle Dickson said.

"I want to compliment the U.S. attorney for the way they handled these cases because they really could have destroyed some people's lives," Dickson said. "My clients were wrong and they broke the law, but the U.S. attorney's office did a thorough investigation and found that these people weren't threats to national security and convicted them of misdemeanors instead of felonies."

Most of the workers spent between two and three weeks in jail after being indicted in connection with a background investigation of airport employees known as Operation Tarmac.

The investigation involved background checks on about 9,000 workers who have access to sensitive and secure areas of the airport. A group of 27 workers, who mostly worked in janitorial positions and as valet drivers, weren't authorized to work in the United States.

Along with the 21 who have been convicted, four -- Rufino Perez Bautista, Martin Blanco, Arafice Karim and Gabriela Rascon -- have warrants out for their arrests. Another, Tapaita Peini, also is wanted after failing to make an appearance at her hearing. The 27th worker, Juan Morales Vera, was deported by the INS, and the charges against him have since been dropped.

Those that agreed to the plea agreement included: Muhammad Qudeer Sharif, Shamshad Bagam Karim, Alsrap Abdul Karim, Mubarak Ali Karim, Marco Wun, Ana Maria Rodriguez, Maria Del Carmen Reyes, Julio Vega Ramos, Ramon Ramirez, Angeles Ramos Partida, Guadalupe Gracian Lugo, Rosa Heredia Loaiza, Nubia Camargo Leal, Francisco Torres Gutierrez, Reynaldo Rodrigo Gonzalez, Juan Ubaldo Garcia, Maria Perez Flores, Graciela Perez Flores, Jose Ramirez Castro, Mirella Bravo and Maria Reyes Carreon.

The INS is working to schedule deportation hearings in the cases, but nothing has been set yet, Dorman said.

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