"Russians smuggled into city to strip, feds say"

Johnny Sutton's dubious legacy of selective criminal prosecution

"Russians smuggled into city to strip, feds say"

While Agents Ignacio Ramos and José Compean went to prison...


"Russians smuggled into city to strip, feds say"


UTEP Professors Siddartha Das & Eppie Rael walked.


Original by Ms. Jennifer Shubinski, El Paso Times. Archived online in August of 2001.


"A University of Texas at El Paso assistant and his wife were arrested Friday morning and accused of smuggling women from Russia into the United States and forcing them to work as topless dancers in El Paso, federal officials said.

"Sardar Gasanov, 40, and his wife, Nadira, 37, are accused of recruiting women from their hometown, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

"The Gasanovs, both from Russia, are accused of using illegally obtained J - 1 visas that indicated the women were scientists traveling to the United States to work on research at UTEP.

"According to the indictment, one woman was forced to marry UTEP student Ruben Dagda, age and address unavailable, to stay in the United States.

"Authorities believe that more than three women were involved in the smuggling scheme, said Hardrick Crawford Jr., El Paso's top FBI agent.

"Crawford would not say whether prostitution was involved or whether more people [take a bow, UTEP Professors Das and Rael! :) ] will face charges because the investigation continues.

"The joint investigation was conducted by the FBI, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. State Department, U.S. Border Patrol and UTEP police..."


Crawford would not say whether prostitution was involved...


Folks that's laugh out loud funny!

Why?

Because when his own turn came to be indicted, one of the questions raised in the course of the subsequent trial was why Crawford's own lawfully wedded wife was receiving $5,000 American dollars a month from a flamboyant Ciudad Juarez kingpin -- whose nicknames were El Señor de los Casinos and EL Zar de Juego -- for her "professional " PR services, given the opinion of one federal female prosecutor during the legal proceedings that said Mrs. Crawford didn't seem to have done a lick of out - of - the - house work herself for close on to 20 consecutive years! :)


Useful Fools, or Outright Flakes?

Enter UTEP Professors Das and Rael!


Source: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. No. 02 - 50556.

"At the University of Texas, El Paso (UTEP) , the professor who is seeking permission for an alien student's entry to the United States prepares an application for the IAP - 66, which is then reviewed and approved by various UTEP officials before the IAP - 66 is isssued (6 R. 153).

"Gasanov either prepared false documentation, or arranged for others to unwittingly [oh, thank you so much, Mr. Johnny Sutton! UTEP is profoundly $$$???!!! grateful! Not to mention Gov. Rick Perry and who all knows who!] prepare false documentation, to support the visa applications.

"For example, Gasanov created false letters of recommendation, curriculum vitae, and other correspondence on his computer to support the visa applications.

"Mr. Siddartha Das, a fellow professor / researcher at UTEP, believed and relied upon Gasanov's false representations of Ms. Sabirova's and Ms. Romanova's qualifications, and prepared an application for the IAP - 66 and other documentaion to support their entry to the United States.

"Mr. Eppie Rael, another colleaguue at UTEP, similarly relied on Gasanov's false representations to sign an application for the IAP - 66 on behalf of Ms. Ikmatova...

"Each of the women's IAP - 66 forms stated that they would be performing research at UTEP.

"None of the women had science degrees or experience working in laboratories, and none of the women performed the research described on the application for the IAP - 66.

"None of the women could read, write, or speak English at the time they came to the United States.

"Their ability to speak English did not substantially improve while they were topless dancers [D*a m*n! These feds really do have a sense of humor! :) ]."

"Ms. Sabirova and Ms. Romanova never set foot at UTEP to perform any research.

"Ms. Ikmatova only came to the laboratory on a few occasions to wash laboratory dishes and make microbes, as instructed by Gasanov.

"Gasanov said she had to come so that other professors [Rael & Das, too?] would see her in the laboratory.

"Gasanova admitted that she had no intention that the women would be students or perform research; the primary purpose was for the women to earn money by working as topless dancers."

Boy, oh boy!