Judge resentences HIV-positive woman to time served
8/5/09 | 23 comments
update

Judge resentences HIV-positive woman to time served


By Judy Harrison
BDN Staff
BANGOR DAILY NEWS FILE PHOTO
Quinta Layin Tuleh, 28, of Portland was sentenced to time served Tuesday for having a fake Security Card and work permit. Behind Tuleh in this May photo is her attorney, Matthew Erickson.

PORTLAND, Maine — A federal judge Tuesday resentenced a pregnant, HIV-positive woman from Cameroon to 114 days, or time served, for having a fake Social Security card and work permit.

Quinta Layin Tuleh, 28, who now lives in Portland, won her appeal in June when the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston reversed the original sentence that would have kept the African woman in federal prison two weeks past her due date of Aug. 29. The appellate court gave no guidance on what her sentence should be.

Tuleh wept Tuesday as U.S. District Judge John Woodcock imposed the sentence her defense attorney and a federal prosecutor had recommended jointly on May 14 at her original sentencing in federal court in Bangor.

“I just want to say that a lot of people who have gone through a lot for me are here today,” she told the judge Tuesday. “I am grateful for their time and support. I want to say, God bless America.”

Tuleh’s case drew the interest of more than 40 organizations from around the nation that signed on to a “friend of the court” brief that urged she be sentenced to time served. The groups included many that provide services to people who have been diagnosed with AIDS or HIV. Other organizations included those devoted to civil rights advocacy, immigrants’ rights, issues facing Africans living in America, women’s rights and prison reform.

“We’re pleased with the result today,” Tuleh’s attorney, Zachary Heiden of the Maine Civil Liberties Union Foundation, said after the resentencing. “The court imposed a sentence that was appropriate under the law and our Constitution.”

He asked the judge that she be sentenced to 114 days rather than the 144 she actually served so that her criminal record would reflect the shortest possible sentence.

Heiden took over the case to handle the appeal when Tuleh’s original attorney, Matthew Erickson of Brewer, withdrew.

Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation in New York City, attended the resentencing in Portland. She criticized Woodcock’s original sentence outside the courthouse.

“It was inappropriate for our client to have received a long sentence solely because she was HIV-positive and pregnant,” said Kolbi-Molinas, a staff attorney with the ACLUF’s Reproductive Freedom Project. “So we’re very pleased with the result.

“The widespread support in favor of a reversal of the sentence shows that we are no longer a society which incarcerates the sick and the poor because they are sick and poor,” she said

The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined Tuesday to comment on the revised sentence.

In May, Woodcock ordered that Tuleh be incarcerated for 238 days to ensure that she received the necessary medical care to lessen the risk of her child being born with the AIDS virus. The judge released Tuleh on June 15 — a week before the appellate court issued its decision — on personal recognizance bail after staff at the Frannie Peabody Center in Portland assured him that Tuleh would receive proper treatment through the center. The center offers support to people diagnosed with AIDS and the virus that causes the disease.

Immigration officials also told Woodcock last month that Tuleh would be summoned to appear in Immigration Court but would not be rearrested.

Tuleh is in the process of applying for asylum in the U.S. on the basis that she has been the victim of a crime, according to court documents. She may have suffered abuse while working for her former employer, who has not been named, in Aroostook County, according to an affidavit filed in June by her immigration attorney, who works for the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project in Portland.

An update on the status of that case was not available Tuesday.

In addition to time served, Woodcock sentenced Tuleh to two years of supervised release through the U.S. Department of Probation and Pretrial Services. An officer from the Portland office has supervised Tuleh while she has been out on bail.

The resentencing hearing Tuesday lasted less than 10 minutes and was much shorter than the average sentencing hearing for defendants on similar charges. Most sentencings on immigration charges handled by Woodcock last 45 minutes to an hour.

Uncharacteristically, Woodcock did not elaborate on the reasons he imposed the revised sentence, as he did at Tuleh’s original sentencing and as he does for nearly every defendant before him.

Tuleh arrived in September 2008 in New York City and lived in Maryland until early January, when she went to Presque Isle to work as a nanny for a family, according to court documents. She was arrested Jan. 21 at the Presque Isle airport after false documents were discovered in her luggage. Tuleh told investigators she had quit her job in a dispute with the woman for whom she worked.

She became pregnant before she came to Maine, according to Erickson, but did not confirm the pregnancy until after her arrest. Her HIV status was not known until a few days before her first sentencing in May.

jharrison@bangordailynews.net

990-8207

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Comments
23 comments on this item
On 8/4/09 at 2:26 PM, SeaDogsFan wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand I told ya so.

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On 8/4/09 at 2:28 PM, Lilee44 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

more tax money gone

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On 8/4/09 at 2:59 PM, HippyKicker wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

She'll get asylum. All she needs to do is show fear of returning (religious freedom, political, physical danger, etc). Welcome to the U.S. - Cripes, they already refer to her as "Quinta Layin Tuleh, 28, of Portland."

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On 8/4/09 at 4:25 PM, PeterTaber wrote: Click here to view hidden comment         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden
On 8/4/09 at 4:33 PM, Stevey_Dee wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Obama could be behind this after all.

Maybe he is related to her, or the father of the child??????

Or both..

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On 8/4/09 at 4:33 PM, Cre8RoyalPalm wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

This woman, Quinta, has claimed fear of returning to Cameroon. I can bet the Homeland Security-US Immigration and Naturalization Service had checked into this claim under her request for asylum here in the US; finding nothing to her claim at all that she would be injured or killed if she returned. I think I read someplace she also was a criminal in that country, but I'm not positive of this.

It is standard procedure for the US to deport illegals, especially when they have already broken immigration laws, as in this case, falsification of immigration and other government documents. The problem here is, the US needs to employ 100% more proactive responsibility to rid the US of 5 million more illegals from around the world, and do it now! But, friends and neighbors...don't hold your breath; Obama is in office and be, himself, may have bucked the criteria himself!

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On 8/4/09 at 4:49 PM, mainemcq6 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Wow! Aren't we cynical? The judge stepped up and assisted a pregnant woman with HIV and it makes me want to congratulate him for having the courage to do what is right.

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On 8/4/09 at 5:08 PM, PeterTaber wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I really think those neocom nitwits above believed what I wrote. I'll have to be more blindingly obvious next time so there won't be any confusion. I could incite a lynch mob if I'm not more careful. In all seriousness, mainemcq6, I heartily agree with you. It probably wasn't very popular with the dittoheads, of course, but it was both a courageous and intelligent decision on the part of Judge Woodcock.

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On 8/4/09 at 5:09 PM, pcme2000 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Send her home today period. before the child is born in the USA, then we will be screwed she will have to stay here.

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On 8/4/09 at 5:34 PM, tysmom wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

If she is sentenced to time served it must be time to ship her on home, why is she still here?? wasn't she here illegally????????

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On 8/4/09 at 6:33 PM, SoFedUp wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Sureeeeeeee PT......Let her stay. U.S. isn't enough in debt, what's one more. I have an idea! Why don't YOU personally pay for everything she needs...since you don't mind spending money...again....money no one seems to have right now. But you don't mind paying taxes it seems, or is it....You don't mind spending other's people hard earned $$. Personally I'm sick of working my a$$ off 60 hrs a week and paying more for freeloaders

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On 8/4/09 at 9:12 PM, skeptik wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Welcome to the United States of America, the other Third World. In 50 years can you imagine what will happen here???? Awful.

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On 8/4/09 at 10:29 PM, nwayne wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Deportation Hearing??? Just send her to where she came from. Save lots of money, buy buying her a first class plane ticket to her country of origin.

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On 8/5/09 at 12:07 AM, LawDisOrder wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Hmmm, anchor baby???

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On 8/5/09 at 3:50 AM, HippyKicker wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

PeterTaber - we need to pay attention to the people that need help that are already here before we take on more. I stated that she could "claim it" and recieve asylum... I didn't say it would be proven in order for her to stay. She's an illegal who forged documents, she made no attempt to immigrate lawfully. Apparently the security of the U.S. and the laws that help protect us mean nothing to you. Maybe it is you that should think about going elsewhere.

Also, I know that sarcasm ran rampant in your statement, but to resort to using a racial statement concerning the commander in chief is uncalled for. (Reference: 8/4/09 at 4:25 PM). I might be out of line sometimes, but I don't make ignorant statements of that caliber.

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On 8/5/09 at 6:30 AM, PeterTaber wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I think we're screwed, as you say pcme2000, having the kind of people you seem to represent already living here.

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On 8/5/09 at 7:45 AM, jaygee wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Why are we allowing illegal immigrants to come into the country with extraordinarily communicable deadly diseases to spread?

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On 8/5/09 at 7:51 AM, Knightscross wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Another Illegal Alien collecting welfare and free medical while working Mainers can't afford health care. Just what Maine needs another welfare client sucking the state dry. Bet she now brings over the whole family as more welfare recipients. DEPORT HER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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On 8/5/09 at 8:08 AM, JeffDubay wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Even though he’s seen as a judge in most peoples eyes, he is a peon in the eyes of those who are controlling this situation. A peon. “Uncharacteristically, Woodcock did not elaborate on the reasons he imposed the revised sentence, as he did at Tuleh’s original sentencing and as he does for nearly every defendant before him.”

As most of the commenters so far don’t appear aware of the Violence Against Women Act, I believe that it is the only reason Tuleh is being cared for with kid gloves. Joe Biden’s dream come true.

America needs to watch out for Joe Biden and his partner, O’blunder.

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On 8/5/09 at 9:36 AM, seeker wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Ship her home now. Before she has her anchor baby. She never should have been in jail in the first place. I would have sentenced her to 20 YEARS in jail... With the option of leaving the country immediately and NEVER coming back.

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On 8/5/09 at 10:17 AM, stdslove wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

HIV case is on the rise!! I just found the largest HIV dating and support site == Positivefish. com == It has about 500,000 members!!!! Even a celebrity is on this site!! OMG! Why so many hot guys&girls are

living with HIV

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On 8/5/09 at 6:04 PM, HarryHSnyderIII wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!Send he back before August 20th!

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On 8/5/09 at 7:16 PM, mAineAc wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

As long as they deport her before she has the child all will be fine.

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