Illegal alien from Sierra Leone sentenced to 30 months in prison for resisting deportation orders

ALEXANDRIA, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that an illegal alien from Sierra Leone was sentenced last week to 30 months in prison for refusing to leave the country twice after being ordered to depart.

Sheku Kumalah, 32, of Sierra Leone, was sentenced April 12, 2018 by U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell on two counts of failure to depart. Evidence admitted at the two-day trial that ended June 27, 2017 showed that on two occasions U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents attempted to remove Kumalah via an escorted commercial flight from the Alexandria International Airport.  The defendant hampered agents’ efforts on July 12, 2016 and August 16, 2016 by verbally and physically resisting attempts to escort him onto the plane.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Enforcement and Removal Operations conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David J. Ayo and Joseph T. Mickel prosecuted the case.