MIAMI, Jan 25: A security company that hired screeners and cargo handlers at Miami International Airport pleaded guilty to falsely certifying that it had checked employees’ work backgrounds and criminal histories, US prosecutors said on Thursday.

The plea deal was completed as US airports and airlines beef up security and prepare for strict new federal regulations in the wake of the Sept. 11 hijacked airliner attacks and the deaths of more than 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

In an agreement presented in US District Court in Miami on Wednesday, New York-based Garrison Protective Services of Florida pleaded guilty to one charge of falsely certifying that background checks had been made on workers seeking access to secure areas of Miami International Airport, one of the world’s busiest. Sentencing was scheduled for April 3.

The US Attorney’s Office said 104 people were hired and given jobs in 1997 and 1998 as security screeners and scanners, wheelchair operators and ramp cargo handlers without having employment or criminal histories verified.—Reuters