Agency director won't be deported.

Byline: BILL BISHOP The Register-Guard

PORTLAND - A federal immigration judge on Thursday allowed German Nieto-Maquehue, the director of a Eugene agency that helps victims of torture, to remain in the country in spite of 1989 felony convictions in an attempted rape in Portland for which he served three years in prison.

After hearing more than five hours of testimony, Judge Michael Bennett emphasized the severity of the crimes but said Nieto-Maquehue had proven that he has rehabilitated himself through education, counseling, service to others and 12 years of living crime-free.

Federal law generally requires that a foreign citizen be deported after conviction for a felony. Nieto-Maquehue's case went undetected until the Immigration and Naturalization Service was tipped off about it earlier this year. He was arrested Sept. 4 in Eugene and had been freed on bond before Thursday's removal hearing.

Nieto-Maquehue, a Chilean who has lived in the United States for 20 years, declined to comment after the ruling. However, his lawyer said the decision resulted from Nieto-Maquehue's hard work.

"The reason for this ruling is because of German and what he did for himself and what he did for the community," said Robert Gibbs, a Seattle lawyer who represented Nieto-Maquehue.

While the ruling vindicated the trust expressed publicly by Nieto-Maquehue's supporters and the board of directors for his agency, Amigos de los Sobrevivientes, board President Herb Everett said only that he was relieved and happy with the ruling.

In the end, Bennett kept more than two dozen of Nieto-Maquehue's supporters on the edge of their courtroom benches as he publicly weighed the reasons for his ruling in a 22-minute review of the evidence before announcing his decision.

Evidence was undisputed that Nieto-Maquehue is of good moral character, has close family ties, strong community support, and employment that benefits not only Eugene but the nation by helping torture survivors from other countries, the judge said. While in prison, Nieto-Maquehue completed his high school education and received a two-year degree. His first day out of prison, he attended the University of Oregon on a scholarship. He later earned a master's degree.

Since he has been out of prison, he has not used alcohol or drugs, according to testimony by friends and co-workers. They described him as an irreplaceable manager who put the struggling nonprofit agency on solid ground in his 2 1/2 years of service.

INS lawyer Mike Spargo argued that Nieto-Maquehue cannot be considered rehabilitated because he did not voluntarily disclose his convictions to two employers, including the Eugene agency. But Bennett said the state does not require ex-convicts to disclose their criminal records unless an employer asks, and neither of Nieto-Maquehue's employers asked.

Bennett focused repeatedly on the severity of Nieto-Maquehue's 1989 crimes, during which he broke into the home of a stranger and attacked a sleeping woman at knifepoint while under the influence of alcohol and cocaine. The woman fought free, and he was caught after police found his wallet in the home.

Bennett said evidence must be utterly convincing that there will be no future victim of a similar incident by Nieto-Maquehue.

"You've gone 12 years," Bennett said to Nieto-Maquehue. "You've done all these good things. One more bad thing would be way too many."

Ultimately, the judge said it boiled down to Nieto-Maquehue's credibility, which the judge tested with a series of pointed questions during Nieto-Maquehue's nearly two hours of testimony.

Although Nieto-Maquehue said his memory of the crimes is hazy, Bennett probed with questions about the kinds of drugs he used, how long he used them, why he was in Portland, how he ended up inside the victim's home.

"I don't know what you were thinking about, what motivated you. That's what I have to decide to be fair to you and the community," Bennett told Nieto-Maquehue. "How do you know you're not thinking the same as in 1989?"

Nieto-Maquehue said the crime happened when he was at an emotional low while breaking up with a woman. He said he dealt with his feelings then by using drugs and alcohol.

"I didn't know then how to deal with feelings," Nieto-Maquehue told the judge. "There is another way to deal with pain and anger. I did not want to cause harm to anyone then, now, ever."

At the end, Bennett said he was convinced.

"I don't think I have ever seen a case of rehabilitation at this level," the judge said.