By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON
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.
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