Ahmed Fathy Mehalba was a
United States Department of Defense civilian translator/ interrogator who was accused of lying to government agents and removing classified documents from the
Guantanamo Bay detention facility.
Childhood and emigration to United States
Born in
Egypt, Mehalba emigrated to the
United States and became a naturalized citizen.
Mehalba received a medical discharge from the Army in May 2001 and was later hired a
San Diego defense contractor, Titan Corporation, to be an
Arabic-
English translator at Guantanamo Bay.
Arrest and conviction
In 2003, Mehalba was assigned as a civilian interpreter/ interrogator at Guantanamo. He was arrested on September 29, 2003, at
Boston Logan Airport
General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport , also known as Boston Logan International Airport and commonly as Boston Logan, Logan Airport or simply Logan, is an international airport that is located mostly in East Boston and partially ...
. Mehalba had flown into Logan through
Italy from
Cairo, Egypt
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
. On a routine admission through U.S. customs, Mehalba presented a U.S. passport and a US military identification card. When asked about some computer
CDs, he said that they contained only music and videos he had made while in Egypt. One CD was labeled ''secret''. Mehalba told inspectors that he did not have any official U.S. government documents.
In January 2005, Mehalba pleaded guilty to lying to governments agents and removing classified documents. Mehalba was sentenced to 20 months in prison, with credit for 17 months, time served. He was released in March, 2005.
References
External links
*Finer, Jonathan
''Interpreter Pleads Guilty to Taking Data''Washington Post, (January 11, 2005)
* CN
''Court-martial begins for ex-Gitmo interpreter''Former Civilian Translator Sentenced to 20 MonthsRantburg (February 18, 2005)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehalba, Ahmed F.
1973 births
Living people
Egyptian emigrants to the United States
People with acquired American citizenship
American spies