Judge denies reduced charge in ATM card case

PROVO — It is unduly harsh to deport a man for simply having, but never using, his roommate's ATM card, especially when this crime is frequently pleaded down to a misdemeanor in other cases, the man's attorney argued Thursday in 4th District Court.

Kiddus Chane Yohannes, an Ethiopian native, was convicted by a jury in February of a third-degree felony of unlawful possession of a financial transaction card.

He was in court Thursday for sentencing, knowing that a felony sentence would most likely revoke his U.S. permanent legal resident status, said his attorney, Richard Gale.

Considering that, plus Yohannes' minimal criminal history, Gale asked Judge Gary Stott to reduce the charge from the felony to a class A misdemeanor before sentencing, a move allowed by Utah's code.

"Typically the results of a person possessing a credit card do not result in something such as this," Gale said. "His situation is different. It should be treated differently. The Legislature has allowed courts to do things differently depending on the circumstances. I don't know that I've ever asked you to grant (this particular) motion at the time of sentencing. The reason I'm doing it on his case is because his case is different, and it is unduly harsh."

In Ethiopia, Yohannes' father was the equivalent to a U.S. appellate court justice, Gale said, but angered the government there when an article he wrote about human rights violations in Ethiopia appeared in the Michigan Law Review.

For safety, Yohannes' father applied for asylum and moved the family to the United States in 1997.

In 2003, Kiddus Yohannes was granted lawful permanent resident status instead.

"It would be very difficult, if not impossible for Mr. Yohannes to remain in the U.S.," Gale said. "Under the asylum application filed by Mr. Yohannes' father, (he would) have to ... show in some way that the Ethiopian government would impute his father's political views to Mr. Yohannes and that, since the asylum occurred 10 years ago, there's currently a threat of harm to him."

Gale acknowledged he's never been to Ethiopia or even Africa, but passed along Yohannes' mother's concerns that deportation would mean a "death sentence" for her son.

Stott said he made a decision long ago not to force plea agreements or amend charges against the state's recommendation at sentencing. He kept the charge a felony and ruled that Yohannes must serve 120 days in the Utah County Jail with credit for 90 days, and that deportation could begin at any time.