A look at the deportees on plane that headed for South Sudan from US
The foreign men convicted of crimes who were placed on a deportation flight headed for the chaotic nation of South Sudan were originally from countries as far away as Mexico and Vietnam. They had lived in various places from California to Iowa, Nebraska to Florida, with one serving a sentence of nearly 30 years.
They were accused and convicted of crimes ranging from murder, to rape, robbery and assault.
Despite their criminal records, a federal judge says the White House violated a court order on deportations to third countries, adding these eight migrants aboard the plane were not given a meaningful opportunity to object that the deportation could put them in danger.
Judge Brian E. Murphy in Boston ordered a new set of interviews with the migrants, either back in the U.S. or abroad. Trump administration officials accused 'activist judges' of advocating the release of dangerous criminals.
'No country on Earth wanted to accept them because their crimes are so uniquely monstrous and barbaric,' said Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security.
These are the migrants who were part of the deportation flight.
SOUTH SUDAN: Dian Peter Domach
The only man from South Sudan on the flight was 33-year-old Dian Peter Domach. He was convicted in 2013 of robbery, for which he was sentenced to 8 to 14 years in prison; and of possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person, for which he was sentenced to 6 to 10 years. Those sentences were to be served one after the other. The Department of Homeland Security said Domach was also convicted of driving under the influence.
While in prison, he was convicted of 'assault by a confined person' and sentenced to an additional 18 to 20 months. According to the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, Domach was released on 'discretionary parole' on May 2 and arrested by immigration authorities six days later.
Records said he represented himself on appeal and in the most recent prison assault case.
LAOS: Thongxay Nilakout
One of the two deportees with life sentences is 48-year-old Thongxay Nilakout from Laos. He was convicted of killing a German tourist and wounding her husband in 1994 when he was 17. The couple was visiting a popular tourist lookout east of Los Angeles during a trip to see their daughter.
Nilakout was sentenced to life in prison but was released in 2023 after his case was reviewed following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said mandatory life sentences for minors were unconstitutional.
He was arrested by immigration authorities in January.
MYANMAR: Kyaw Mya
Kyaw Mya, a man from Myanmar who lived in Iowa, was convicted of sexually abusing a child under 12 years of age and sentenced to 10 years in prison, according to the Department of Homeland Security. He was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in February.
An attorney for Mya did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.
MYANMAR: Nyo Myint
Nyo Myint, another Burmese deportee, lived in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was accused in 2017 of sexually assaulting a 26-year-old woman with 'diminished mental capacity' who ended up pregnant. The woman's sister said the victim had a mental capacity equal to a 3-year-old and that Myint had told her he was the child's father.
An arrest affidavit filed by the police said Myint admitted to having sex with the woman at least two times, saying he knew her since 2003 and knew she had gone to a school for children with mental disabilities. He admitted he made a mistake and felt it was wrong to have sex with her.
He was given a 12- to 14-year prison sentence in 2020 but released on probation in May 2023. ICE took custody of Myint in February.
Nathan Sohriakoff remembers defending Myint in the Nebraska case and communicating with him via interpreters. He hadn't heard he was part of the deportee group, which Trump administration officials are calling 'barbaric monsters.'
'He was a small man, very petite. He didn't speak a word of English and didn't resist the charges,' Sohriakoff said. 'I don't remember feeling like he was dangerous. My general feeling of him was that he was limited in his ability as well, like cognitively, but not to the degree that I felt he was incompetent.'
VIETNAM: Tuan Thanh Phan
The Department of Homeland Security says the flight included a Vietnamese man. Tuan Thanh Phan was convicted of first-degree murder and second-degree assault and sentenced to 22 years in prison. He was arrested by ICE earlier this month.
CUBA: Enrique Arias-Hierro and Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Quiñones
The Department of Homeland Security says the flight included two men from Cuba: Enrique Arias-Hierro and Jose Manuel Rodriguez-Quiñones.
Florida court records show Arias-Hierro, now 46, served 15 years in a state prison after being convicted of robbery, kidnapping and falsely impersonating an officer. Homeland Security officials say he was also convicted of homicide and armed robbery, but the records in Miami-Dade County did not include that.
The attorney who last served as his public defender in 2024 did not respond to an email and phone call seeking comment. Arias-Hierro was taken by ICE earlier this month.
There was no further information immediately available on Rodriguez-Quiñones.
MEXICO: Jesus Munoz-Gutierrez
A Mexican man was also placed on the deportation flight. The Department of Homeland Security says Jesus Munoz-Gutierrez was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
It was unclear why he would be flown to South Sudan or beyond when Mexico is just south of the United States.
______
Associated Press writer Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
18 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
An immigrant Wisconsin man falsely accused of threatening Trump can be released on bond
CHICAGO (AP) — An immigrant man who was falsely accused of threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump can be released from a Wisconsin prison on bond, an immigration judge determined Tuesday. Ramón Morales Reyes was accused of a writing a letter threatening Trump in a blistering social media post by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. The post includes Morales Reyes' photo and an excerpt from the letter he purportedly wrote in English. But the claims quickly fell apart as Wisconsin authorities determined that Reyes, who doesn't speak English well or write in the language, was framed. The immigrant from Mexico was a victim in a violent 2023 attack where his bike was stolen. According to authorities, the alleged attacker, Demetric D. Scott, forged the letter to try to clear his case. Morales Reyes was set to be a witness in Scott's July trial for armed robbery and aggravated battery. Judge Carla Espinoza set Morales Reyes bond at $7,500 during a brief hearing at immigration court in Chicago. 'The defendant does not present a danger to the community,' she said. Morales Reyes, 54, appeared virtually from Dodge Detention Center in Juneau, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) north of Milwaukee. He could be released this week if the federal government does not appeal. An attorney for the federal government did not speak at the hearing. In a statement Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security said it would 'continue to fight for the arrest, detention, and removal' of immigrants without legal status but did not respond to a question about whether government attorneys would appeal Morales Reyes' bond. Morales Reyes, a married father of three U.S. citizen children, works as a dishwasher in Milwaukee. He was arrested by immigration agents last month after dropping a child off at school. He immigrated from Mexico in the 1980s and doesn't have legal permission to be in the U.S. This year, he applied for a U visa, which is for people in the country illegally who are victims of serious crimes. Getting such a visa can take years. Homeland Security issued a statement to reporters last week saying that although Morales Reyes was no longer considered a threat to Trump, federal attorneys would still pursue an immigration case. The government alleges that Morales Reyes reentered the U.S. times numerous times without a visa. However, Noem's social media post blaming Morales Reyes for an assassination attempt, which was circulated by Trump supporters, remains online. Cain Oulahan, an attorney for Morales Reyes, said his client is a crime victim and blasted the misinformation. 'We'd like to hear an official public correction and that someone else is responsible,' he said. Ahead of Tuesday's hearing, Morales Reyes daughter spoke to reporters, saying her father is hardworking and always focused on putting food on the table and keeping a roof over the family's heads. She said he also loved to take his children to parks or for walks and planned frequent cookouts. 'My dad is a not a threat to anyone. He is a good man who got caught up in a terrible situation,' said Anna Morales. 'Now that the truth has been proven, I ask from the bottom of my heart he gets the justice he deserves. We need him more than words can explain.' Scott, who is in the Milwaukee County Jail, is due in court Tuesday on the newer charges related to the letter, including felony witness intimidation and identity theft.
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Alabama to execute a long-serving death row inmate for the 1988 beating death of a woman he dated
ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — A man convicted of beating a woman to death nearly 37 years ago is scheduled to be executed Tuesday in Alabama in what will be the nation's sixth execution with nitrogen gas. Gregory Hunt is scheduled to be put to death Tuesday night at a south Alabama prison. Hunt was convicted of killing Karen Lane, a woman he had been dating for about a month, according to court records. The Alabama execution is one of four that had been scheduled this week in the United States. Executions are also scheduled in Florida and South Carolina. A judge in Oklahoma on Monday issued a temporary stay for an execution in that state, but the state attorney general is seeking to get it lifted. This photo provided by the Alabama Department of Corrections shows Gregory Hunt, who is scheduled to be executed in Alabama on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. He was convicted of the 1988 murder of Karen Lane. (Alabama Department of Corrections via AP) Lane was 32 when she was murdered Aug. 2, 1988, in the Cordova apartment she shared with a woman who was Hunt's cousin. Prosecutors said Hunt broke into her apartment and killed her after sexually abusing her. A physician who performed an autopsy testified that she died from blunt force trauma and that Lane had sustained some 60 injuries, including 20 to the head. A jury on June 19, 1990, found Hunt guilty of capital murder during sexual abuse and burglary. Jurors recommended by a vote of 11-1 that he receive a death sentence, which a judge imposed. Hunt's final request for a stay of execution, which he filed himself, focused on claims that prosecutors made false statements to jurors about evidence of sexual abuse. The element of sexual abuse is what elevated the crime to a death penalty offense. In a filing to the U.S. Supreme Court, Hunt, acting as his own attorney, wrote that a prosecutor told jurors that cervical mucus was on a broomstick near Hunt's body. However, the victim did not have a cervix because of an earlier hysterectomy. The Alabama attorney general's office called the claim meritless and said even if the prosecutor erred in that statement, it did not throw the conviction into doubt. Hunt, speaking by telephone last month from prison, did not dispute killing Lane but maintained he did not sexually assault her. He also described himself as someone who was changed by prison. 'Karen didn't deserve what happened to her,' Hunt said. Hunt said he had been drinking and doing drugs on the night of the crime and became jealous when he saw Lane in a car with another man. 'You have your come-to-Jesus moment. Of course, after the fact, you can't believe what has happened. You can't believe you were part of it and did it,' Hunt said. Hunt, who was born in 1960 and came to death row in 1990, is now among the longest-serving inmates on Alabama's death row. He said prison became his 'hospital' to heal his broken mind. He said since 1988, he has been leading a Bible class attended by two dozen or more inmates. 'Just trying to be a light in a dark place, trying to tell people if I can change, they can too. … become people of love instead of hate,' he said. Lane's sister declined to comment when reached by telephone. The family is expected to give a written statement Tuesday night. 'The way she was killed is just devastating,' Denise Gurganus, Lane's sister, told TV station WBRC at a 2014 vigil for crime victims. 'It's hard enough to lose a family member to death, but when it's this gruesome.' The Alabama attorney general's office, in asking justices to reject Hunt's request for a stay of execution, wrote that Hunt has now been on death row longer than Lane was alive. Alabama last year became the first state to carry out an execution with nitrogen gas. Nitrogen has now been used in five executions — four in Alabama and one in Louisiana. The method involves using a gas mask to force an inmate to breathe pure nitrogen gas, depriving them of the oxygen needed to stay alive. Hunt had named nitrogen as his preferred execution method. He made the selection before Alabama had developed procedures for using gas. Alabama also allows inmates to choose lethal injection or the electric chair.
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Florida set to execute man convicted of raping and killing a woman 3 decades ago
A man convicted of raping and killing a woman three decades ago after kidnapping her from a supermarket parking lot in Florida is scheduled to be executed Tuesday. Anthony Wainwright, 54, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was convicted in the April 1994 killing of 23-year-old Carmen Gayheart, a mother of two young children, in Lake City. Wainwright would be the sixth person put to death in Florida this year. The state also executed six people in 2023, but only carried out one execution last year. There are four executions scheduled around the country this week, including another one on Tuesday in Alabama. On Monday an Oklahoma judge granted a temporary stay of execution for a man scheduled to be put to death Thursday. Richard Hamilton, the other man convicted in Gayheart's killing, was also sentenced to death. But he died on death row in January 2023 at the age of 59. Gayheart's sister, who plans to attend the execution, said three decades is too long to wait for justice. 'It's ridiculous how many appeals they get,' Maria David told The Associated Press, adding that each step of the appeals process reopened her family's wounds. 'You have to relive it again because they have to tell the whole story again.' Wainwright and Hamilton escaped from prison in North Carolina, stole a green Cadillac and burglarized a home the next morning, taking guns and money. Then they drove to Florida and when the Cadillac began to have problems in Lake City, they decided to steal another vehicle. They confronted Gayheart, a community college student, on April 27, 1994, as she loaded groceries into her blue Ford Bronco, according to court documents. They forced her into the vehicle at gunpoint and drove off. They raped her in the backseat and then took her out of the vehicle and tried to strangle her before shooting her twice in the back of the head, court filings say. They dragged her body several dozen yards from the road and drove off. The two men were arrested in Mississippi the next day after a shootout with police. A jury in 1995 convicted Wainwright of murder, kidnapping, robbery and rape and unanimously recommended that he be sentenced to death. Wainwright's lawyers have filed multiple unsuccessful appeals over the years based on what they said were problems with his trial and evidence that he suffered from brain damage and intellectual disability. Since his execution was scheduled, his lawyers have argued in state and federal court filings that his execution should be put on hold to allow time for courts to hear additional legal arguments in his case. In a filing with the U.S. Supreme Court, his lawyers argue that his case has been 'marred by critical, systemic failures at virtually every stage and through the signing of his death warrant.' Those failures include flawed DNA evidence that wasn't disclosed to the defense until after opening statements, erroneous jury instructions, inflammatory and inaccurate closing arguments and missteps by court-appointed lawyers, the filing says. The filing also says that a jailhouse informant who testified at Wainwright's trial finally admitted last month that he and another informant had testified in exchange for lighter sentences, a fact that had not been disclosed to the defense. The Supreme Court on Monday denied Wainwright's final appeals without comment. David, Gayheart's sister, said she feels cheated that Hamilton died before the state could execute him. She said she was 'overcome with emotion' when she heard the governor had signed a death warrant for Wainwright. Her parents both died while waiting for justice to be served, she said, but she plans to be there to witness the final chapter of her family's tragedy. 'There's nothing that would keep me from seeing this all the way through,' she said. Her sister loved animals and surprised her by training to become a nurse rather than a veterinarian, David said. Gayheart was two years younger than her sister but became a mother first, and David said she marveled at her sister's patience with her young children. 'She was here, she mattered, she should be remembered, and she was loved,' David said of her sister. Over the years, she has kept a book where she put every court filing, from the initial indictment through the latest appeals. 'I'm looking forward to getting the last pieces of paperwork that say he's been executed to put into the book and never having to think about Anthony Wainwright ever again,' she said.
