ICE arrests ‘criminal alien' released from prison with sex crimes conviction: 'He won't be welcome back'
A "criminal alien" and "suspected terrorist" who served 19 years in prison for holding his housekeeper captive and repeatedly molesting her, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials after his release from the Arapahoe County Jail in Centennial, Colorado, Tuesday, and will be deported back to Saudi Arabia.
Following a jury trial in 2006, Homaidan Al-Turki Al-Turki was convicted of misdemeanor false imprisonment, misdemeanor conspiracy to commit false imprisonment, 11 counts of felony unlawful sexual contact, felony extortion, and felony theft of $15,000 or more.
Al-Turki served a six-years-to-life sentence at the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC).
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He first became parole-eligible in 2011, but failed to participate in the DOC's sex-offender treatment program, preventing his release and delaying his deportation back to Saudi Arabia.
Al-Turki filed numerous motions with the courts while incarcerated, including a recent pending motion alleging his defense counsel did not adequately represent him at trial.
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In granting him a hearing, District Court Judge Eric White said, "[t]he defendant's counsel may not have understood fundamental aspects of the submitted jury instructions, particularly that misdemeanor unlawful sexual contact could be elevated to a felony conviction if the jury found that Al-Turki used force, intimidation, or threats to cause the victim's submission."
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Al-Turki's original attorneys said they thought the unlawful sexual contact convictions were for misdemeanor offenses, which would have carried a jail sentence of up to two years.
However, because the jury found him guilty of unlawful sexual contact offenses that were committed through physical force and violence, the charges were enhanced to class 4 felonies.
Al-Turki was sentenced to several concurrent terms of six-years-to-life in prison on those counts and was ordered to complete sex offender treatment.
The 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office agreed on Tuesday to amend some of the felony counts, with the condition he is sent back to his home country.
Al-Turki, now 56, pleaded guilty, and was immediately sentenced to concurrent terms of six years in the Colorado DOC.
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The sentence on each count was ordered to be served concurrently, to include a mandatory period of parole supervision that Al-Turki had already served due to his nearly 19 years in prison.
He was taken into ICE custody Tuesday afternoon pursuant to a removal order to deport him back to Saudi Arabia.
"Based on careful analysis of the facts and evidence presented through the 35(c) motion, as well as the difficulty in re-trying the case nearly two decades later if the motion was successful, our office determined that resentencing Al-Turki to 11 felony sex offenses, in addition to the other offenses that he stands convicted of, and resulting in his removal from the United States, is the appropriate outcome in this case at this time," Colorado 18th Judicial District Assistant District Attorney Ryan Brackley said.
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While Brackley said it was a difficult decision, he noted it "strikes the right balance between ensuring that Al-Turki remains a convicted sex felon and is removed from our community, while at the same time considering the resources that have been expended in holding this defendant accountable."
ICE officials said Al-Turki first entered the U.S. at an unknown location in 1992, before leaving in 1993. In 1994, he lawfully reentered again at an unknown location.
In 2001, Al-Turki was questioned about the 9/11 attacks, and left the U.S. again at an unknown time and place. He lawfully reentered the U.S. again in 2002.
He was convicted of the crimes in 2006, and has had an administrative order of removal since 2013.
"He won't be welcome back to the United States again," ICE officials wrote in a post on X.Original article source: ICE arrests 'criminal alien' released from prison with sex crimes conviction: 'He won't be welcome back'
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