Elisha Dawkins served with the Army in Iraq.
Idiots in the government. God save us.....................
Posted on 06/28/2011 1:32:22 PM PDT by Red Badger
Army, Navy Photographer Accused Of Passport Fraud
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Elisha Dawkins graduated in August from nursing school in Jacksonville.
He put on hold his plans for taking the board exams because the Navy called him into action as a photographer.
Dawkins photographed happenings at Guantanamo Bay, an act that's evidence he's a trusted member of the military with top secret clearance.
Now, Dawkins, a Navy reservist and decorated Army combat photographer who served in Iraq, is in jail, charged with passport fraud. He's facing 10 years in prison for what could be a simple misunderstanding.
"Suddenly, he's picked up and thrown in jail? Then it's time for this senator to start asking questions," U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson., D-Fla., said.
Nelson has questions echoed by Dawkins' friends, including Dianne Rinehardt.
"It's a travesty, and we're trying to stop it," Rinehardt said.
Rinehardt went through nursing school with Dawkins and is a veteran herself. She's upset about the trouble her friend is in. In sharing his story with other vets, Rinehardt said that lots of people who don't know Dawkins can't believe it.
"We're all appalled that, how can you serve this country and be more dedicated to the ideals of this country, and serve this country and then be told, 'Guess what, you made a little clerical error. You're out of here.' And that's a travesty," Rinehardt said.
A federal indictment states that Dawkins started to fill out a passport application in 2004, didn't complete it, then filled out a new application two years later.
On that new application, he checked a box "no" for the question, "Have you ever applied before?" according to the indictment.
Dawkins got the passport, but three months ago, the government issued a warrant for his arrest. He was taking photos for the Navy at the time.
When Dawkins got back to the U.S. in April, he was arrested about a week later and has been in jail for two months since.
"The state department is implying there's something more. I want to know, and that's why I've written them," Nelson said.
"We've sent emails through our standard home, family email chains throughout the country," Rinehardt said. "The more attention we bring to this, the more people will see this as a disservice."
Dawkins' attorney calls the case an "absurd prosecution," saying that filling out a "no" box "did not merit criminal charges."
Because the trial is scheduled for next month, if Dawkins is still in jail at that point, he will insist on going to trial.
A pretrial hearing Tuesday in Miami is the next step.
Elisha Dawkins served with the Army in Iraq.
Idiots in the government. God save us.....................
Police state.
There really has to be more to this than a missed box.
EVEN the government is not that stupid.
This is the only part of this article that matters:
>>A federal indictment states that Dawkins started to fill out a passport application in 2004, didn’t complete it, then filled out a new application two years later.
On that new application, he checked a box “no” for the question, “Have you ever applied before?” according to the indictment.<<
If that information is accurate, then there is more to this story. The simple reason is that you do not apply for something unless you complete and submit an application. According to the first sentence above, the application in 2004 was not completed, and therefore he answered correctly two years later. And if the first one was not filled out, how did anyone even know about it?
I repeat: there is something missing here.
Govt extremism like this promotes terror and they know it. Classic leftist tactic - make an example.
For most things, if you did not sign and submit it, you didn’t apply. Do they really want to set the precedent that a unsigned and unsubmitted legal document is legally binding?
Could be, because it sounds so absurd. On the other hand we are discussing the current regime and they are that stupid.
Had he been an illegal alien not only would he not be facing any charges, but they would have signed him up for all kinds of bennies.
You been living on an asteroid for a few decades?
There really has to be more to this than a missed box.
///
agreed! the question didn’t ask if he had STARTED an application before. it asked if he had APPLIED before.
(which is impossible, if the application, wasn’t completed!):
“...didn’t complete it, then filled out a new application two years later.
On that new application, he checked a box “no” for the question, “Have you ever applied before?”
...also, i am NOT talking about “birther” stuff. but, Obama’s name on his passport, is NOT identical to his birth certificate.
is that passport fraud?
a legal name is a legal name...
Yes, but your assumption is that someone is paying attention—and is such a block head that they would go after this guy. Because of a stupid mistake.
You really think the government is paying that much attention? I don’t.
If he didn’t complete the first application, sign it, and turn it in for approval then he did not apply before and should check “no”. Next our troops will be sent to Levenworth for asking questions - oh, never mind.
Anyone arrest the usurper on his fraudulant passport’S’, yet? What names is he going by on them? What citizenship is he claiming? He claimed he didn’t have a passport before he became a Senator so what was he travelling on to Indonesia, Australia, Kenya, and Pakistan?
And if the first one was not filled out, how did anyone even know about it?
/// good point. that is more than a little disturbing...
With all the documentation fraud being perpetrated by illegal aliens in this country they choose to prosecute this? Hell, Hillary bitch couldn’t remember a damn thing from legal work prior to being first lady.
So it is too much of a burden for a voter to bring photo id to the polls. But we should prosecute the hell out of someone who did not remember a previous passport application? This country is screwed.
..there has to be more to this....
Double agent?
Easily explained. He turned the incomplete form back to the clerk and the clerk filed it and entered his name in the system. Once in the system, it tagged him with the "no" box checked.
What happens if an adult fills out an application and honestly checks the "no" box because he/she never applied but when he/she was a kid the parents applied for said kid? You're damned if you do and damned if you don't.
Don't bet on it...................
No, the government is THAT stupid, but I agree there is probably more to the case, though I doubt it warrants 10 years in prison for a veteran.
Another article mentioned that he was born in the Bahamas and brought to the US as a baby and is not a citizen. He claims that his mother always told him he was a US citizen (which could well be true, but who knows?).
So, he may have falsely claimed, either knowingly or innocently, that he was a US citizen on one or both of the passport applications as well.
I also don’t really buy the story that he started filling out the in 2004 and never completed it. Perhaps he left some boxes blank or didn’t provide all his documents, but clearly he must have handed in the application. Otherwise, how would the government know it existed? Did they pull it out of the trash at the post office or passport office?
Too bad he is not a Mexican in this country illegally. They’d have let him go right away.
This seems to be a CF all around.
From The New York Times (a more indepth look):
Veteran of Iraq War Now Fights His Own Deportation
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/24/us/24veteran.html?_r=2
But a lawyer for the man, Elisha L. Dawkins, 26, has a different story, one that begins with Mr. Dawkins’s arrival here from the Bahamas as an infant. He was raised to believe he was a citizen, his lawyer contends, something the state and federal authorities did not challenge during his seven years in the military.
It is unclear why Mr. Dawkins was indicted in March, five years after receiving his passport and when he was still in the Navy. “
But now - well - it’s “go home” time.
He sits in Federal Detention awaiting a hearing.
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