By Associated Press, 11/19/01

WASHINGTON -- An illegal alien from El Salvador pleaded guilty Monday to helping one of the Sept. 11 hijackers fraudulently obtain a Virginia identification card.

Victor Lopez-Flores also pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., to illegally re-entering the United States after being deported. He faces a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison and fines of $500,000. Sentencing was set for next Feb. 2.

In his guilty plea, Lopez-Flores admitted that he falsely certified on Aug. 2 that Ahmed Alghamdi lived at his Alexandria, Va., address. Alghamdi, who was aboard one of the hijacked airliners that crashed into the World Trade Center, used the residency certification to obtain an ID card from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles a month before the Sept. 11 attacks.

Prosecutors said Alghamdi paid Lopez-Flores $100 for his help. Lopez-Flores, who originally was deported in 1993 after a criminal conviction, acknowledged that he had helped at least 20 people obtain false Virginia IDs since last May.

Lopez-Flores is second person to plead guilty in northern Virginia to charges arising from the investigation into false ID cards obtained by the hijackers. Authorities have said none of the four had any advance knowledge of the Sept. 11 attacks.