D.C.-area Man Breached White House Security Like Salahis

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5, 2010— -- Aspiring reality-TV stars Tareq and Michaele Salahi were apparently not the only uninvited guests masquerading at the White House state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Nov. 24.

In a surprising revelation, the United States Secret Service said yesterday that a third gate-crasher made it onto White House grounds without undergoing a background check.

"The subject traveled from a local hotel where the official Indian delegation was staying, and arrived at the dinner with the group, which was under the responsibility of the Department of State," a statement from the U.S. Secret Service reads.

Sources tell ABC News the D.C.-area man met the Indian delegation at the Willard Hotel, where they went through an initial magnetometer security screening before boarding vans to the White House grounds. Upon approaching the White House gate, Secret Service personnel then waved through the delegation's van, assuming everyone inside had been cleared and screened to attend.

"They clearly are not following their basic protocol in that you cannot let anyone in a controlled space, particularly with the president, without being cleared," former FBI special agent Brad Garrett told ABC News.

The Secret Service says that "there is nothing to indicate that this individual went through the receiving line" or had contact with the Obamas, unlike the Salahis, who famously shook hands with the president.

Ed Donovan, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said he would not provide the name of the individual in question.

But the Washington Post has identified the man as Carlos Allen, whose Facebook page says he's a fan of gate crasher Michaele Salahi. Government sources would not confirm his name and Allen did not respond to attempts by ABC News to reach him.

In a statement to Politico, Allen denied attending the state dinner, saying repeatedly, "I did not attend the state dinner."

Official: State Dept. to Blame for 3rd Crasher

While Secret Service officials have assumed full responsibility for the Salahis' presence at that dinner, they are blaming the presence of this third uninvited and unvetted guest on the U.S. State Department.

"A State protocol officer should have prevented him from going through the U.S.S.S. security check at the Willard, U.S.S.S. has no list at that checkpoint," a U.S. official told ABC News.

"Once he was screened, he was part of the delegation package and went in with them," the official said, meaning there was no additional screening once the van arrived at the White House because they are then considered a secure group.

The official tells ABC News that after news broke of the Salahis crashing the State Dinner, the Secret Service reexamined video of guests arriving, trying to match faces with names on a guest list. Indeed, they found one man in a tuxedo, but no corresponding name on a guest list.

The third crasher was then quickly identified and later questioned, according to the official.

Sources said the individual didn't stay the whole night, and seemed to have left before the dinner started.

Asked specifically if the suspect had any connection to the Indian CEOs who rode in the van, the official added, "I honestly don't know if he had a connection to the CEOs, I've seen nothing to believe he did."

For some reason officials say this individual's name -- unlike the other members of the official Indian delegation -- was not entered into the Worker and Visitor Entrance System (WAVES), the security list for those who enter the White House.

Secret Service Reviews Security Procedures After Breach

The Secret Service says that procedural changes have already been implemented to address whatever holes existed in the system for foreign delegations under the responsibility of Department of State to enter facilities secured by the Secret Service.

Donovan told ABC News he was limiting information about this incident to that provided in the press release because the matter is a criminal investigation.

The Secret Service is part of the Department of Homeland Security, which has found itself a tad embattled due to security breaches leading to the presence of the alleged failed bomber Umar Farouq Abdulmutallab on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day.

ABC News' Devin Dwyer contributed to this report.