Newton resident from Lebanon faces deportation for “violent criminal history” (Newton TAB)

Newton resident from Lebanon faces deportation for “violent criminal history”
By John Hilliard, staff writer
Wicked Local Newton
Posted Jan 28, 2010 @ 06:16 PM
Last update Jan 29, 2010 @ 09:48 AM

Newton —
A 46-year-old Lebanese man from Newton could be deported because his “violent criminal history” violated the terms of his immigration status, but officials say they can’t release details of his criminal record.

Antranik Sarkissian, 46, of 76 Margaret Road, was arrested on Jan. 21 at about 7 a.m. on a violation of immigration status warrant by agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to Newton police.

Paula Grenier, spokeswoman for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Boston office, confirmed Sarkissian was arrested and is now being held at the Suffolk County House of Corrections until he goes before a federal immigration judge in Boston.

Grenier couldn’t release Sarkissian’s name because of immigration privacy laws, but could confirm the accuracy of the Newton police report.

Sarkissian was among 24 people in the Boston area arrested by ICE agents as part of a national operation to catch suspected gang members. The Newton resident was arrested because of his criminal history, said ICE spokesman Harold Ort.

“By law, his significant violent criminal history makes him removable from the U.S. He will receive due process as provided by the law,” said Ort.

But it’s unclear how Sarkissian violated the terms of his immigration status.

Grenier said she didn’t have access to his criminal record, and Newton Police Spokesman Lt. Bruce Apotheker said he couldn’t comment on Sarkissian’s record.

According to records at Newton District Court, Sarkissian was involved in four separate cases in 2009, but a judge dismissed a charge of assault and battery in February.

Prosecuters also didn’t have enough evidence to pursue charges of aggravated assault and battery in November, and larceny over $250 in January 2009, according to the court.

The remaining charge - larceny by a single scheme for $250 - will be dismissed when Sarkissian pays a $500 fine. He’s already paid $350, according to the court.

According to land records, Sarkissian bought his Margaret Road home in May 2007. Grenier said privacy laws prevented her from commenting on how long he lived in the US, but said he is from Lebanon.

Grenier said Sarkissian has access to a telephone and is given a contact list of lawyers who can work pro-bono on his behalf. If the immigration judge orders Sarkissian out of the country, he will be sent back to Lebanon in a government plane or commercial flight paid for by the government, said Grenier.

A spokeswoman for the Executive Office for Immigration Review, a branch of the Department of Justice that oversees immigration hearings, said she didn’t have a date for Sarkissian’s hearing at the JFK Building in Boston.