ICE to deport Saudi Arabian national, convicted kidnapper after release from Colorado jail
ICE Denver arrested a man recently released from Arapahoe County Jail following his re-sentencing Tuesday.
Homaidan Ali Ilbrahim al-Turki was convicted in 2006 for sexually assaulting and enslaving his Indonesian-born housekeeper between 2000-2004. He was found guilty of 12 counts of sexual assault, kidnapping, two counts of false imprisonment, extortion and theft of $15,000 or more.
Originally sentenced to a minimum of 28 years in prison, al-Turki's sentence was reduced to a minimum of 6 years to life in 2011. Former State Prisons Director Tom Clements denied his request to serve his sentence in Saudi Arabia after al-Turki refused to undergo sex offender treatment.
A week later, authorities said Evan Ebel shot and killed Clements. Al-Turki and his lawyers denied that he had any involvement in the murder and filed a lawsuit alleging that state officials had leaked that "the main working theory" of the investigation was possible retaliation for the denial. Angel Medina, former Assistant Director of the Colorado Department of Corrections, later said no misconduct was reflected on a subsequent assessment of the prisoner.
He filed numerous motions during his incarceration, including a recent pending motion alleging that his defense counsel did not adequately represent him during his trial.
District Court Judge Eric White stated that "[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."
White agreed to accept a proposed resolution during a hearing Tuesday in which the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office agreed to amend counts 3-14 of unlawful sexual contact based on al-Turki's agreement to plead guilty to each of them. White resentenced him to six years on each count to be served concurrently, including a mandatory period of parole supervision.
Authorities said he has already served his sentence due to nearly 19 years in prison, and al-Turki was released from the jail Tuesday. He was transferred into ICE custody for immediate deportation.
According to ICE, al-Turki entered the United States for the first time in 1992 and left the following year. They said he legally reentered the country in 1994.
Authorities suspected al-Turki of terrorist activity and questioned him about the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, after which he left the country again. In 2002, ICE said he lawfully reentered the United States.
Al-Turki reportedly has an administrative order of removal from 2013. ICE said he will not be allowed to return to the U.S.
