TEXARKANA, Arkansas -- A Palestenian man present in the U.S. without authorization pleaded guilty in a Texarkana federal court Tuesday to being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.
Abdallah Imad Ali, 30, was in possession of a Glock pistol which had been reported stolen out of Memphis, Tennessee, when he was pulled over by an Arkansas State Police trooper for traveling 96 miles per hour in a 75 mile per hour zone, according to a factual basis filed Tuesday in the Texarkana Division of the Western District of Arkansas.
The stop was made shortly before 8:30 a.m., May 25 on Interstate 49 near mile marker 23 in Miller County. Ali presented the trooper with two expired driver's licenses from two different states.
Inside the car Ali was driving, the trooper found the stolen semi-automatic pistol, $7,378.24 in cash, "boxes containing tracking devices," and a Palestenian passport.
Homeland Security investigators determined Ali is a citizen of Jordan who last entered the U.S. in May 2014 as a non-immigrant student. Applications submitted by Ali to change his status to that of a legal resident were denied in September 2018 and earlier.
"As a result, the defendant's immigration status at the time was that of non-immigrant overstay since approximately Sept. 24, 2018. As a person illegally and unlawfully present in the United States, the defendant is prohibited from possessing a firearm," the factual basis states.
Ali faces up to 10 years in federal prison, a fine up to $250,000, or both at sentencing. Ali will return to court for sentencing before U.S. District Judge Susan Hickey after the court has received a pre-sentence investigation report including a recommendation for punishment under federal sentencing guidelines.
Ali is also facing a charge in Miller County, Arkansas, circuit court of theft of a firearm. He is scheduled for trial on that charge in January. He faces three to 10 years in an Arkansas prison and a fine up to $10,000, if convicted.
Ali is currently being held in the Miller County jail.