The FBI had Hosam "Sam" Smadi under surveillance in the months before the Jordanian national was accused of trying to blow up a Dallas skyscraper, according to newly released court documents.
But tracking him wasn't without its problems, according to a search warrant affidavit.
Agents twice placed a tracking device on Smadi's 1991 Honda Accord. Because of the car's age and condition, the device fell off each time, the affidavit states. On the third try, agents secured the tracker with a different attachment in hopes that it would hold.
Because the tracker was unreliable, agents went to a judge in September and got permission to track Smadi's cellphone, which was in the name of Kellye Kines.
She was a friend who worked with Smadi at the Texas Best Smokehouse, a restaurant and travel stop off Interstate 35E in Italy.
Smadi, 19, told an undercover FBI employee that the phone was in Kines' name because AT&T required a Social Security number to perform a credit check and he did not have one, the affidavit states.
To read the complete article, visit www.star-telegram.com.
.jpg)
Comments