Owner of limo that crashed was FBI informant who testified in terrorism trials

NEW YORK - The owner of the limousine company linked to the deadliest U.S. transportation accident in nine years is no stranger to the law.

Shahed Hussain, who owns Prestige Limousine, served as an FBI informant in two terrorism cases after pleading guilty to a federal fraud charge in 2002.

A state official confirmed Hussain's bizarre history to The Albany Times Union.

Now, Hussain faces the prospect of an avalanche of lawsuits for the crash that killed 20 people, as well as possible criminal charges.

On Monday, two days after the crash, Gov. Andrew Cuomo confirmed that the driver of the limo did not have the proper license and that the vehicle had failed an inspection just last month.

"The owner of the company had no business putting a failed vehicle on the road," Cuomo said.

Court records show that federal prosecutors credited Hussain, a Pakistani immigrant, with providing "substantial assistance" in 2006.

At the time, prosecutors said he'd assisted in a fraud and drug case involving 12 individuals. He'd also testified in the terrorism sting of an Albany imam, Yassin Aref, and Bangladeshi pizzeria owner Mohammed Hossain. The pair were convicted of laundering money for a fake terrorism plot set up by the feds and each sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Hussain also served as an FBI informant in the controversial case of the Newburgh Four.

In that case, Hussain posed as a wealthy radicalized Muslim who befriended four men eventually convicted of plotting to shoot down U.S. military planes with a Stinger missile and set off bombs at Jewish targets in Riverdale area of the Bronx. The government faced criticism for the case because Hussain was seen as organizing the scheme and urging on the participants. Nevertheless, the four men, James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen were convicted, thanks in part to Hussain's testimony.

The work as an FBI informant paid well, according to "The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism." The book by journalist Trevor Aaronson reported that Hussain used the money he earned from the FBI to buy the Crest Inn Suites & Cottages in Gansevoort.

The seedy inn also served as the business address for Hussain's limo company. A longtime resident of the inn said that for at least two years Hussain kept limos on the property and seemed to care little about safety.

"As long as they get money, they don't care who's getting In their vehicles," the resident, Laken Prosser, 31, said.

Efforts to reach Hussein were unsuccessful Monday. Prosser said he had recently returned to Pakistan.

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Trump touts "stop and frisk" in speech to police group in Orlando

President Trump touted the "stop and frisk" policy in a speech Monday to the International Association of Chief of Police Annual Convention in Orlando, saying it's a policy that works and was meant for places like Chicago.

The president, who regularly brings up Chicago when talking about crime, said that city should strongly consider the controversial "stop and frisk" policy used when his lawyer Rudy Giuliani was mayor of New York city.

"I have directed the attorney general's office to immediately go to the great city of Chicago to help straighten out the terrible shooting wave. I'm going to straighten it out and straighten it out fast," Mr. Trump said. "There's no reason for what's going on there. I've told them to work with local authorities to try to change the terrible deal the city of Chicago entered into with ACLU, which ties law enforcement's hands and to strongly consider stop and frisk. It works and it was meant for problems like Chicago. It was meant for it. Stop and frisk."

"And Rudy Giuliani, when he was mayor of New York City, had a very strong program of stop and frisk, and it went from an unacceptably dangerous city to one of the safest city in the country and I think the safest big city in the country, so it works. Got to be properly applied, but stop and frisk works. The crime spree is a terrible blight on that city and we'll do everything possible to get it done."

In his speech, Mr. Trump also praised Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was successfully confirmed over the weekend.

The president spoke with with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on his way to Orlando, and said he has no plans to fire the DOJ's second-in-command. Mr. Trump told reporters he has a "very good relationship" with Rosenstein, aside from the Russia investigation. Mr. Trump had intended to meet with Rosenstein for days, after the New York Times reported that Rosenstein had suggested wiretapping the president and invoking the 25th Amendment – claims Rosenstein denied.

Mr. Trump, speaking to reporters before heading to Orlando, said the allegations against Kavanaugh were "all made up," and said he thinks the American public will see through Democrats' "charade" in the Kavanaugh saga. Some Democrats are threatening to impeach Kavanaugh if they gain control of Congress.

"The American public has seen this charade, has seen this dishonesty by the Democrats and when you mention impeach, a justice of the United States Supreme Court who is a top scholar, top student, top intellect, and who did nothing wrong, and there was no corroboration of any kind, and went through seven FBI investigations, had nothing to do with any of this stuff," Mr. Trump said.

Upon returning to Washington, the president will later swear in Kavanaugh at a ceremony at the White House. Hours after he was confirmed by the Senate, Kavanaugh was officially sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts in a private ceremony with his family at the Supreme Court. First Lady Melania Trump will not attend, with her office citing a long-standing prior commitment.

"The first lady regrets that she will not be able to celebrate with the Kavanaugh family on such a special evening, but she has a longstanding prior commitment she was unable to change at the last minute," the first lady's spokesperson, Stephanie Grisham, told CBS News.

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>>3402984

maybe so maybe not, but have you paid attention to how many happenings involve fbi informants or their kids last 2 years alone???

that IS the REAL terrorism watchlist broski.

>>3403136

ya, let's let NASA of all fucking people kick that hornets nest… help us all.

>>3403362

i take 100% for each and every one of my misdeeds, especially the most heinous, especially… but what all of our lives would have looked like on a timeline without the cocaine import agency and poppy fields sprouting like fucking corn… is question i think about every god damn day.

>>3403362