http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribunereview/search/s_465047.html Foreign man being held for feds By Liz Zemba TRIBUNE-REVIEW Monday, August 7, 2006 A man from the Republic of Georgia is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison on a federal detainer after he and another foreigner were found in Murrysville with 15 prepaid cell phones and $4,200 in cash, police said. Malkhaz Zakutashvili, 53, was held through the federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Murrysville police Sgt. Charles Tappe said. The federal agency told police not to hold the second man, Zurabi Maisuradze, 25, who is also of the Republic of Georgia, Tappe said. Zakutashvili told police he was in the country illegally, Tappe said. Maisuradze claimed to have a visa, but he said he had forgotten to bring it with him. The two men were questioned just before 8 p.m. Saturday because their van, which did not have a permanent registration plate, was stopped in a lane of traffic in the Franklin Plaza parking lot, near an Eckerd drugstore, Tappe said. The white van had only a temporary cardboard tag displayed in a window. The men said they were immigrants, but each displayed Michigan drivers' licenses, Tappe said. The prepaid cell phones, which the men had recently purchased in Monroeville and Murrysville, were found inside the van. Also in the van were a laptop computer and global-positioning software. Tappe said a bomb-sniffing dog from the Westmoreland County Sheriff's Office searched the van. "It was a 2006 van, but it was all gutted out," Tappe said. "No seats or paneling on the walls. For all intents and purposes, it was the kind of vehicle that could be used for explosive devices." The dog found nothing, Tappe said. Most of the money, $3,400, belonged to Maisuradze and was found in an envelope in the van. The remaining $800 was in Zakutashvili's possession. The men had visited the Eckerd store to purchase batteries, Tappe said. They told police they were en route to Philadelphia. Tappe said the federal agent who investigated, Richard Nicoloff, did not ask Murrysville police to confiscate any of the items from the van. "They didn't want the laptops or the cell phones," Tappe said. "That surprised me ... Just with the activities, and what they were doing, I'm surprised they let Zurabi go without questioning him." Nicoloff did not return a phone call Sunday seeking comment. The Republic of Georgia is a country in western Asia. It is bordered by Russia, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and the Black Sea. Liz Zemba can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or (724) 836-6646.
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