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American Morning

Hotel Security Guard Pleads Guilty to Making False Statement

Aired February 28, 2002 - 08:39   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: There is a twist in what seemed like a case of good detective work down at ground zero in the days following the September 11 attacks. A hotel security guard, some considered a hero, now faces some time behind bars.

That story this morning from CNN's Deborah Feyerick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hotel security guard Ronald Ferry leaving federal court after pleading guilty to making a false statement, a false statement that put an innocent man in jail.

In October, Ferry telling FBI agents he found a pilot's radio, like this one, in the Millennium Hilton Hotel in a locked safe in a room belonging to Egyptian student Abdullah Higazy (ph), but the radio was not in Higazy's safe. Ferry now acknowledges he knew a co-worker had found it on a desk.

So why lie? His lawyer says he just got caught up in the climate of being a hero.

ANTHONY RICCO, ATTORNEY: The bottom line is that he wanted to help out. He made a mistake. He took responsibility for that mistake. Fortunately for everyone, this situation was corrected before it went forward.

FEYERICK: But not before Higazy spent a month in jail, partly because of Ferry's statement. The pilot's radio got investigator's attention because the Millennium Hotel is across from the World Trade Center, investigators wondering if it could have been used to help guide the hijackers to their targets.

Higazy's room was on the 51st floor, and like all the guests, he was evacuated after the attacks. Security guards collected everyone's belongings. When a private pilot staying at the Millennium asked for his radio back, Higazy was cleared and released.

ABDULLAH HIGAZY: Here is what I thought. Poor guys, they're going to waste a lot of time, effort and money and then realize that I was telling them the truth.

FEYERICK: Ferry is a former Newark, New Jersey police officer. A source says at least two other hotel security guards, former NYPD officers, are being investigated for their parts.

(on camera): Ronald Ferry is scheduled to be back in court May 30 for sentencing. The maximum penalty: a $250,000 fine and five years in prison. The judge making it clear that if he decides, it could be even more than that.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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