That’s the report last week from Minnesota where the convicted man’s attorney tried to get a lesser sentence because he was a poor refugee from troubled Africa.
From the Twin Cities Pioneer Press (Hat tip: Cliff):
Ahmed Sule was sentenced to nearly 30 years in prison Friday for sexually assaulting a legally blind elderly man in the victim’s Fridley home last year.
Anoka County Judge Tammi Fredrickson handed down the decision after the victim’s daughter told the courtroom how Sule’s actions last September had affected her father and their family.
[…..]
The victim, who was 84 at the time of the attack, was suffering from cancer when Sule broke into his home. Sule, 24, repeatedly told the man he loved him and wanted to kiss him before sexually assaulting him. The elderly man tried to fight off Sule but was weak from radiation and chemotherapy.
[…..]
The man has since died.
[…..]
Brisbois [Sule’s attorney] had been hoping the judge would take into account Sule’s background. The refugee from Ethiopia grew up in a constant state of conflict in his native country, Brisbois said.
[…..]
He will be deported after his prison term.
Be sure to read the comments on this troubling story where friends of the victim said they danced in the street at hearing the verdict.
The Ethiopian refugee flow to America keeps flowing
The article doesn’t tell us in what year Sule came to the US, but we have resettled the following numbers of Ethiopians in the last four years (here): 560 (2011), 668 (2010), 321 (2009) and 299 (2008). For years prior to those go here where we were bringing over 1000 Ethiopians each year. Why? I don’t know, but one of the Top Eleven federal refugee contractors* is run by Ethiopians—The Ethiopian Community Development Council. The present head of the Office of Refugee Resettlement in the Dept. of Health and Human Services is Ethiopian Eskinder Negash, here. [By the way, I hope to write a post soon on the revolving door between contractors and the federal agencies that dole out the money to the contractors!]
* If you are a new reader, don’t be fooled by the name they call these contractors—voluntary agencies (volags for short)—they are not run by volunteers but by highly paid professionals managing a refugee industrial complex!