Sep 7, 2006 2:04 pm US/Mountain
Government Drops Case Against Saudi Man
DENVER (AP) ―
Federal prosecutors Thursday told a judge they wanted to drop their case against a Saudi Arabian citizen convicted in state court of sexually assaulting an Indonesian housekeeper and keeping her as a virtual slave for four years.
Homaidan Al-Turki, who faced a federal trial in October on charges of forced labor, document servitude and harboring an illegal immigrant, was sentenced in Arapahoe County District Court last week to 28 years to life in prison.
"The government's decision is based on the fact that the Arapahoe County district attorney's office did an outstanding job prosecuting the defendant and because of their hard work, the defendant has received a substantial prison sentence," said Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office.
Al-Turki was convicted in state court of multiple counts of unlawful sexual contact by use of force, theft and extortion, all felonies; and of misdemeanor counts of false imprisonment and conspiracy to commit false imprisonment. His attorneys have said they plan to appeal those convictions.
During his sentencing hearing, Al-Turki, 37, denied wrongdoing and said the case was based on anti-Muslim sentiment. He said FBI agents persuaded the now-24-year-old housekeeper, who initially denied any sexual abuse, to accuse him after they failed to build a case that he was a terrorist.
Al-Turki, a linguist who brought his family to Colorado 14 years ago and was studying for a doctorate at the University of Colorado, was convicted June 30 in state court. Prosecutors said his ethnicity and religion were never a factor in the prosecution.
In a court filing Thursday, federal prosecutors said the victim testified during Al-Turki's state trial for more than five days, and she would have to testify again about the same matters in a federal trial. They also noted that he has already paid about $64,000 in restitution to the housekeeper and could be ordered to pay more restitution by a state judge.
"And in the interests of sparing the victim the ordeal of another trial which would subject her to additional examination regarding the most intimate personal matters, further prosecution of the federal charges is not deemed necessary," the filing said.
Prosecutors and FBI agents said Al-Turki and his wife, Sarah Khonaizan, brought the woman to Colorado to care for their five children and to cook and clean for the family. An affidavit said she spent four years with the family in the suburban Aurora home, sleeping on a mattress on the basement floor and getting paid less than $2 a day.
The Associated Press is not identifying the woman because of the sexual nature of the charges.
Khonaizan pleaded guilty to a federal immigration charge and a state theft charge. She was sentenced to home detention and probation in the federal case and two months in jail in the state case.
Her attorney, Forrest Lewis, has said she wants to return to Saudi Arabia and will not fight deportation, which he expects to occur after her state sentence is completed.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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