Judge stops Slick Rick’s deportation
A federal judge on Friday (12/27) blocked the deportation of Slick Rick, who has been in the custody of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Bradenton, Fla., since June.
A federal judge on Friday (12/27) blocked the deportation of Slick Rick, who has been in the custody of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in Bradenton, Fla., since June.
The ruling by Judge Kimba Wood means that the musician--whose real name is Ricky Walters--can continue his fight to remain in the United States. He will, however, remain in INS custody.
Walters, a native of Great Britain who has lived in the U.S. since he was 11 years old, is facing deportation because of a 1990 incident in which he was convicted for shooting a cousin, the cousin’s pregnant girlfriend and a bystander. He spent five years in a New York prison after pleading guilty of the charges.
Walters’ lawyer told the Associated Press that the judge stopped the deportation, which had been planned for Saturday (12/28), after finding that there was a substantial possibility that Walters could prove that he should not be deported.
INS agents arrested Walters aboard a cruise ship after the U.S. began enforcing a law that requires deportation of foreigners convicted of violent felonies.
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