Associated Press
October 22
n Uzbekistan national arrested in September on immigration charges entered America with a diplomatic visa obtained fraudulently through the U.S. Embassy in his home country, an INS agent said at the man's detention hearing Monday.
Davlat Norqulov, charged with possession of a false passport, declined to accept a plea offer from the U.S. attorney on Monday. U.S. Magistrate David Young ordered Norqulov held until a grand jury is convened. Norqulov could face up to 15 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
However, under federal sentencing guidelines, the sentence is often substantially less and may be as little as probation to two years in prison, U.S Attorney Michael Johnson said. He declined to discuss details of the plea offer.
"We offered him an opportunity to dispose of his case but I don't talk about the substance of negotiations," Johnson said.
Norqulov, Kamolakham Tuychieva, Anvarjon B. Kuliev, Utkur Hasanov, plus a fifth person later released, were riding in a van Sept. 25 in Parkin in eastern Arkansas when they were stopped by police for speeding.
Police said information relayed to dispatchers revealed that one of the vehicle's occupants was possibly on an FBI watch list released shortly after the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the East Coast. Johnson says this case is not related to the attacks.
The five were turned over to the Immigration and Naturalization Service and were questioned by the FBI. Four remain in custody.
The FBI questioned and detained the five to investigate any possible connections to terrorism, INS agent Ricky L. Petrie said during Norqulov's detention hearing Monday. Petrie said Norqulov entered the country on July 8 after falsifying documents in Uzbekistan that allowed him to obtain a diplomatic visa. He said Norqulov is pictured wearing an Uzbekistan military uniform in his passport photo, but that the man was never in the military nor worked for the government.
In visa application documents, Norqulov stated he would attend a military sporting competition in Florida in July. No such event occurred, Petrie said.
The visa, he said, was issued by the U.S. Embassy in Uzbekistan. Petrie said a letter detailing the sporting event and purportedly signed by U.S. Army Major General James Lovelace, stationed in Alaska, accompanied the visa application. Petrie said Lovelace never signed the document, but that the general's signature appeared to have been affixed to the page.
Petrie said the Uzbekistan Defense Ministry contacted the U.S Embassy there, and the visa was granted.
"There is a certain amount of trust on the part of the U.S Embassy when an official with the Uzbekistan government is involved," he said. Petrie said diplomatic visas are "for high-level government officials."
According to court documents, Norqulov stated that he paid $400 to an unidentified man he met outside the U.S Consulate in Tashkent to obtain the visa.
Upon entering the country, Norqulov would have faced "little questioning," Petrie said.
INS agent David Hayes previously testified that, "most of the individuals that get visas out of his country get them fraudulently."
Also Monday, Magistrate Young ordered Hasanov detained as a material witness in a case against Kuliev, who is charged with transporting illegal aliens. Kuliev is the owner of the van stopped in Parkin. Hasanov has violated immigration laws by overstaying his visa. Deportation proceedings against him have been put on hold pending his grand jury testimony.
Tuychieva is also being held as a material witnesses in the case against Kuliev. Tuychieva will face deportation proceedings after her grand jury testimony.