Man who served 19 years for holding housekeeper captive resentenced, will be deported
Homaidan Al-Turki, 56, stood trial in 2006 and was convicted of 18 charges, ranging from false imprisonment to unlawful sexual contact, extortion and theft stemming from 2000 to 2004, the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office reported on Thursday. Since then, Al-Turki has been serving his six-year-to-life sentence in the Colorado Department of Corrections.
Previous case reporting: Declassified documents show possible link between man in Colorado and 9/11
He became eligible for parole in 2011, but didn't participate in the DOC's sex-offender treatment program, according to the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office. Because he didn't participate in the program, he was prohibited from release, delaying his deportation back to Saudi Arabia.
Al-Turki has filed several motions with the court alleging that his defense counsel improperly represented him. A hearing to determine if Al-Turki qualified for post-conviction relief led to the DA's office agreeing to amend 11 counts if Al-Turki would plead guilty to them.
Those charges were all criminal attempt to commit unlawful sexual contact by physical force, and a judge sentenced Al-Turki to six years on each amended count to be served concurrently.
'Mr. Al-Turki raised 6th Amendment concerns that his trial attorneys—all four of them— failed to adequately research Colorado statutes relating to sentencing for unlawful sexual behaviors,' Chief Deputy DA Ann Tomsic said in a release. 'This issue, coupled with the nearly 19 years the defendant has served in prison and the difficulties retrying the case due to its age, unknown location of the victim, and death of witnesses, necessitated an agreement to a reduction in the eleven sex offense charges and their sentences, along with an understanding that he will be immediately removed from the United States.'
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents took Al-Turki into custody on Tuesday and will remove him from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia.
'Al-Turki has served nearly two decades in prison for his heinous and aggravated conduct,' District Attorney Amy Padden said. 'Returning this convicted felon and sex offender to his home country ensures he will not be able to prey on anyone else in our community.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Anas Al-Sharif became the face of the war in Gaza for millions. Then Israel killed him
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His reports provided first-hand accounts of critical moments in the conflict, including the short-lived ceasefires in the territory, the release of Israeli hostages and harrowing stories of the starvation that have shocked the world. Al Jazeera recruited Al-Sharif in December 2023 after his social media footage of Israeli strikes in his hometown of Jabalya went viral. Then a professional cameraman, he was initially reluctant to appear on air but was persuaded by colleagues to front his reports, an experience he called 'indescribable.' 'I had never even appeared on a local channel let alone an international one,' he was cited as saying in the Sotour media outlet in February. 'The person who was happiest was my late father.' His father was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Jabalya shortly after Al-Sharif began appearing on Al Jazeera. A father of two, he appeared on the channel nearly every day since he started his job. 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'At the end, (the Israeli military) sent me voice notes on my WhatsApp number… an intelligence officer told me… 'you have minutes to leave the location you are in, go to the south, and stop reporting for Al Jazeera'… I was reporting from a hospital live.' 'Minutes later, the room I was reporting from was struck,' he said. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) didn't respond to CNN's request for comment. Why now? Israel first accused Al-Sharif of being linked to Hamas 10 months ago. Why it decided to target him now is unclear. In a statement confirming his targeted killing, the IDF accused Al-Sharif of leading a Hamas cell in Gaza that orchestrated 'rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF forces.' In October 2024, the Israeli military published documents it claimed showed 'unequivocal proof' of Al-Sharif's ties to Hamas and named five other Al Jazeera journalists who it said were part of the militant group. An Israeli army spokesperson said in a video on X that Al-Sharif joined a Hamas battalion in 2013, and was injured in training in 2017, an accusation denied by the journalist himself and Irene Khan, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression. 'I reaffirm: I, Anas Al-Sharif, am a journalist with no political affiliations. My only mission is to report the truth from the ground – as it is, without bias,' he wrote last month. 'At a time when a deadly famine is ravaging Gaza, speaking the truth has become, in the eyes of the occupation, a threat.' Following the journalist's killing, the IDF's Arabic spokesperson published several pictures of Al-Sharif with Yahya Sinwar, the late Hamas leader who is believed to have masterminded the October 7, 2023 attack that left around 1,200 people in Israel dead and roughly 250 more taken hostage. Israel killed Sinwar in October 2024. 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Anticipating his own death, Al-Sharif had written a will that was released by his colleagues after he was killed. 'I have lived through pain in all its details, tasted suffering and loss many times, yet I never once hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification… If I die, I die steadfast upon my principles,' he wrote. 'Do not forget Gaza … and do not forget me in your sincere prayers for forgiveness and acceptance.'
San Francisco Chronicle
11 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Aging is the real killer in Bay Area author's latest serial killer tale
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Miami Herald
13 hours ago
- Miami Herald
‘Prison or death awaits': U.S. trucker accused of financing Haiti gang leader
Three Haiti-born naturalized U.S. citizens, including a trucker who lives in Fayetteville, North Carolina, have been charged with trying to orchestrate the violent overthrow of the Haitian government by providing weapons and money to one of their homeland's most notorious gang leaders. Bazile Richardson and two other unnamed co-conspirators were indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia on charges of assisting Jimmy 'Barbecue' Chérizier, the former police officer who became leader of the G9 and Family gang and now is one of the heads of the powerful Viv Ansanm gang coalition. Richardson, who described himself as a close friend who grew up with Chérizier, is accused of conspiring with others in the U.S., Haiti and elsewhere to violate U.S. sanctions, according to the redacted indictment. Federal prosecutors claim that tens of thousands of dollars Richardson and others sent money to Haiti between December 2020 and January of this year. Prosecutors say the money was sent via intermediaries and wired to U.S. dollar banking accounts in Haiti so Chérizier could purchase weapons and vehicles, and pay salaries to his 'soldiers.' Under investigation since 2022, Richardson was arrested in Houston last month. Last year, Chérizier's G-9 joined with other criminal armed groups to form Viv Ansanm, 'Living Together,' to create an alliance of Haiti's most powerful gangs. After launching coordinated attacks at its debut in February 2024 year that forced the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, Viv Ansanm has been responsible for thousands of deaths and the displacement of tens of thousands of Haitians. Today, members control the majority of Port-au-Prince through violence and extortion, while driving creating one of the worst humanitarian crises in the region. 'Prison or death' 'I grew up with BBQ,' Richardson said in a voice memo he forwarded to one of the co-conspirators, according to the indictment. 'I am not afraid of saying that the head of G9 is a close friend of mine, he is like a brother to me.' After admitting to speaking daily with Chérizier, Richardson added, 'People cannot scare me because I live in the U.S. and I am not trying to conspire against the U.S. [Expletive] you, America. I am defending my country, which the U.S. embassy is destroying.' Then in the same message he went on to say he knows two things await him: prison or death. In December 2020, Chérizier and two former Haitian government officials were sanctioned by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control for their role in leading armed groups in coordinated, brutal attacks in Port-au-Prince, including a 2018 massacre in the capital's La Saline working class neighborhood. He was also cited for other attacks. Despite the designation, the indictment says, Richardson and another unnamed co-conspirator 'led a wide-ranging conspiracy' to raise funds for the former cop's gang activities in Haiti. Richardson had knowledge of Chérizier's sanctions, prosecutors claim, highlighting comments he made to the effect. 'They are watching everything because of the sanctions,' he allegedly told someone as he was instructing them how to send money to Haiti. Terrorist designation Earlier this year, Chérizier was designated a global and foreign terrorist and Viv Ansanm a 'Foreign Terrorist Organization.' The designation extends U.S. jurisdiction to anyone assisting the gangs. Anyone found guilty of assisting the gangs may be regarded as terrorists and face harsher penalties. That includes the possibility that gang leaders and members could be sent to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center, the largest maximum-security prison in Latin America, a senior State Department official told the Herald ahead of the designation. According to prosecutors, Richardson wired at least $9,313 to Haiti to aid gang activities between Sept. 27 and Oct. 12, 2021. Three years later, around March 2024, some of the Haitians in the U.S. were wiring as much as $49,000 to people in Haiti, who withdrew the money to pay gang members in their self-described 'revolution' after the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse plunged the country into near anarchy. By that September, prosecutors claim, with his savings almost gone, Richardson held conversations with a co-conspirator in the U.S. he says was ready to invest $50,000 in the fight. Richardson had been under investigation since 2022. He was arrested in Houston on July 23. Communiction among co-conspirators Chérizier's name remains sealed in the indictment for now, but he is described as a sanctioned individual accused of soliciting money from members of the Haitian diaspora in the United States, including Richardson, through both direct messaging and social media apps. The gang leader 'regularly communicated' with Richardson and the other co-conspirators about what resources were needed to fund his gang activities, prosecutors said. After funds were sent, the co-conspirators sent images of the money transfer receipts to sindividuals in Haiti. None of the co-conspirators, including Richardson, who also topped up the gang leader's cell phone so they could communicate directly, applied for or obtained the necessary licenses from U.S. authorities to lawfully conduct the transactions listed in the indictment, the authorities said. At one point, according to the indictment, Richardson was promised the opportunity of serving 'in the new government,' according to a voice memo he forwarded in June 2022. 'Revolution' in Haiti In the voice note, one of the Haiti-based co-conspirators told Richardson his role in the U.S. 'is to push initiatives to help the cause…. If I have backup, we will take the power and you will be able to come back to your country. You will need to serve in the new government.' In other voice memos, the co-conspirators in Haiti spoke of wanting to 'start a revolution in Haiti and trying to collect funds,' with a goal of targeting 1,000 Haitians living abroad to contribute $20 each, or having a million Haitians each giving $1 dollars. For those living inside the country, the group proposed targeting 1,000 Haitians in each of the 10 regions and collecting 5,000 gourdes, or about $40 from each. 'With this money, they can buy pickup trucks, weapons, ammunition, clothing to include T-shirts, boots and hats,' according to a voice memo. 'We want to change everything in Haiti.' Raising money wasn't the only objective, according to the indictment. On June 25, 2022, Richardson forwarded a voice note where an unidentified individual said, 'Exactly what we need are weapons and vehicles. We have a lot of soldiers…. All we need are vehicles and weapons for 1,000 soldiers to attack.' Because of the depreciation of the Haitian gourdes and fees, both Richardson and those he was funding were desperate to identify people in Haiti with U.S. bank accounts so that the money could be wired directly, the indictment says. According to the indictment, one of the con-conspirator resides in New York while another lives in Massachusetts. The indictment also singles out five unnamed Haitian co-conspirators including one who moved to North Carolina from Haiti.
