FARMINGTON, MISSOURI — A Thai woman apparently headed for deportation after being convicted of stealing from the pizza restaurant where she worked can remain in the US after her immigration case was dismissed.
The in Park Hills, Missouri Daily Journal newspaper reported that Komdown "Dow" Boyer had the support of the employer from whom she embezzled in the case dismissed Monday.
Boyer, who moved to the US as a child after her mother married an American soldier, was convicted in 2013 of stealing money from the restaurant where she had worked for a decade. She was sentenced to probation and ordered to pay about $51,000 in restitution.
Officials with Immigration and Customs Enforcement put her in jail in March 2014 and said she would be deported for the crime. But an hour before her plane was to take off in June, when a last-minute order came in that she would be freed pending further investigation.
Boyer's problems began when she started skimming money to pay medical bills after her husband's legs were crushed in a work-related accident. The theft was discovered and charges filed in 2012.
Boyer admitted to the crime immediately and agreed to pay back the money she took. It was during court proceedings that she discovered she was not a US citizen as she had believed. She also learned that the charges and guilty plea would result in her potentially being deported to Thailand where she was born, but hadn't visited since age nine.
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Her attorney, Javad Khazaeli, filed a joint motion with to set aside the judgment and conviction and withdraw the guilty plea. The order setting aside the guilty plea was approved in December, allowing an immigration judge to dismiss her case.
"She is once again a lawful permanent resident, a status she has had for the last 30-plus years," Mr Khazaeli said.
Boyer's husband, Justin, said the ruling came as a huge relief.
"I feel like I can make plans for my family's future and I haven't been able to do that for quite some time," he said.