Would you like Files with that?

Bostonist hates taking off our shoes at the airport when going through security. We have a special pair of particularly smelly shoes we wear hoping that the TSA people will have to touch them as we go through the detectors. But we don’t carry knives, bombs, or secret documents. Back in 2003 Ahmed Mehalba was arrested and charged with possessing secret documents when he was searched at Logan International Airport. Mehalba a former Boston taxi driver and a US citizen and was working at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba as an Arabic translator for the US Navy. He had originally been arrested when he was traveling back to the US after visiting his family in Egypt and customs agents found a number of secret files on a CD in his luggage.

After pleading guilty to charges of making false statements and illegally possessing classified information Mehalba was sentenced to 20 months in jail. He was released after 17 months served. The AP reports that the FBI had taken a number of his possessions as evidence when he was arrested, including 130 CD’s, clothing, and some other personal items. Mehalba was back in Boston to collect his items from the FBI office after being released, they gave it all back to him. They gave back all of it, including the CD containing the files that had landed him in jail a year and a half ago. He did what any god-fearing American would do—called the FBI and told them they made a mistake. The FBI was at his door in a couple of hours, after the agent he contacted had asked him "are you sure?" when told of the blunder. Mehalba was commended for his actions in returning the disc, the US Attorney’s office told Mehalba’s lawyer that there would be no charges pressed for the recent possession of the files. In an interview with WBUR Mehalba was grateful to be a US citizen but wished that the name Ahmed wouldn’t cause him so much grief in the future. With national security being protected by top notch, detail oriented personnel like this Bostonist isn’t taking our shoes off next time at the airport unless TSA asks real nice.