Security sweep at airports nets 24

Two dozen individuals seeking employment at John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport have been charged with falsifying security applications by failing to disclose prior criminal convictions.
When an applicant is applying for a job at the airport, he/she must fill out an application for a Security Identification Display Area (SIDA) badge in addition to an individual company’s job application form. The badge allows the holder access to secure areas at JFK and LaGuardia airports. Those areas include aircraft parking and maintenance areas, the tarmac and ramp, cargo storage facilities, and passenger and baggage screening areas.
According to the charges, when asked on their SIDA application form if they had ever been convicted of a crime, the defendants claimed that they had not. The defendants allegedly have numerous convictions, including weapons and narcotics possession, and robbery.
“In this age of terrorist threats and heightened security it is vitally important that those employed at our City’s two major airports be above reproach in order to protect the safety of the traveling public,” said Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown. “Moreover, employers who do business at the airports have a legitimate need to know whether prospective employees have relevant criminal convictions before entrusting such individuals with responsibilities within their companies.”
Among the two dozen defendants are: Eric A. Hazel, 42, of 114-35 133rd Street, South Ozone Park; Mario M. McClaire, 28, of 176-01 133rd Street, Jamaica; Major Newton, 42, of 126-39 145th Street, Jamaica, and Jefferson Williams, 33, of 137-05 231st Street in Laurelton.
The defendants are each being held pending arraignment in Queens Criminal Court in Kew Gardens on a charge of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a Class E felony punishable by up to four years in prison.