By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
A former supervisory intelligence research specialist for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in El Paso, Tex. pleaded guilty Thursday to misusing his diplomatic passport and submitting fictitious expenses that amounted to at least $70,000.
Ahmed Adil Abdallat, 64, pleaded guilty in federal court in El Paso to two counts of misuse of a diplomatic passport and one count of conversion of public money.
Authorities say that in March 2007 Abdallat was issued a diplomatic passport in order to perform various temporary duties at the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia and several other foreign countries.
Abdallat admitted he used his official diplomatic passport on two occasions for the personal purpose of travel to and from Amman, Jordan after he was permanently assigned to duty in El Paso and no longer had any official embassy, mission, or related activities.
Authorities said he also admitted that from Feb. 15, 2009 to , through Sept. 10, 2010, he submitted 13 vouchers for travel from El Paso to Washington, D.C. and received $116,392.34 in travel fund reimbursements.
Authorities said multiple vouchers contained fictitious charges for lodging, vehicle rental and parking. Authorities said the government was taken for at least $70,000, but the exact amount has yet to be determined.
Authorities said that Abdallat remains in federal custody pending sentencing. A sentencing date has yet to be set.
