Painting his way out
Alleged vandal faces deportation
by Nancy Zuckerbrod Staff Writer
A man who was to go on trial for allegedly spray-painting swastikas around Washington, D.C. was, instead, arrested by Immigration and Naturalization Service agents and now faces a removal (deportation) hearing.
The agents appeared at the D.C. Superior Court Monday morning and arrested Esededeea Aesfyza, 47, shortly before he was scheduled to go before a judge for destruction of public property. Prosecutors said they welcomed that arrest and dropped the charges against him so the federal agents could detain him.
Aesfyza reportedly was born in Greece. Immigration officials say they believe he entered the United States from Canada. His court-appointed attorney declined to verify his client's nationality or any other information about the case.
Officials are holding Aesfyza on a $5,000 bond. John Ingham, acting press officer for the Washington, D.C. office of INS, said Aesfyza will face a removal hearing before an immigration judge in the ``near future.'' He said that will probably take place in the district.
Aesfyza was convicted for spray-painting swastikas on D.C. property on two previous occasions during the past four years and served time in prison for both offenses. Anti-Defamation League officials say when he was in jail, the swastikas stopped appearing on signs, newspaper boxes and other locations but reappeared upon his release.
While Aesfyza has denied responsibility for the swastikas, he has said he views them as symbols against circumcision. ADL and law enforcement officials say they are nothing less than symbols of hate.
``This puts an end to quite an ugly chapter,'' said ADL spokesperson Laura Kam. ``We feel very confident the vast majority of swastikas spray-painted around town were perpetrated by this individual,'' she said.
Officers brought the most recent destruction-of-property charge against Aesfyza in March after an officer allegedly saw him spray-painting a swastika on a traffic signal box at New Jersey and Constitution avenues.
According to prosecutors, the maximum punishment he could have received for that crime was 180 days in prison. They seem relieved at the recent turn of events and say they can bring Aesfyza back to court if he is not deported.
``We will be monitoring the INS process very closely. So we will be ready to retry him if necessary,'' said Julieanne Himelstein, the deputy chief of the misdemeanor trial section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.
``We take this person extremely seriously because every single person in this city _ Jewish or not Jewish _ is a victim of this crime,'' Himelstein said. ``When people see swastikas or bad words pertaining to other groups it affects everybody.''
While ADL officials, who had been monitoring the case closely, were surprised by Monday's outcome, prosecutors and INS officials said such arrests happen all the time.
Aesfyza reportedly did not have an accurate address, and that can make it difficult for INS officials to track down suspected illegal aliens. Ingham said keeping tabs on court dates is a tool agents use to find people.
ADL officials say they, too, will be monitoring the case, but they say it also is time to do something else _ get rid of the swastikas. David Friedman, director of ADL's Washington D.C. office, said in a statement, ``... we call on the D.C. Department of Public Works to start to remove these odious symbols of hate from the streets of our nation's capital.''