Maryville man facing deportation
By Wes Wade | (wes.wade@thedailytimes.com)
A Maryville man who immigrated to the United States from England as a boy may soon be facing deportation.
Samuel John Phillip Lloyd, 31, of Old Piney Road, was taken into custody by Blount County Sheriff’s Office deputies Aug. 25, 2011, on four violation of probation charges. One resulted after a felony conviction — aggravated burglary — and three were granted after the following misdemeanor convictions: DUI, theft less than $500 and reckless driving.
Lloyd is currently being held at the Oakdale Federal Detention Center in Louisiana, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) records. ICE Spokesman Vincent Picard said Lloyd is waiting to appear before a judge at the Executive Office of Immigration Review, where it will be determined whether or not Lloyd will be removed from the country.
Picard said officers assigned to ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Criminal Alien Program first encountered Lloyd in January while he was an inmate at the West Tennessee State Penitentiary. According to Blount County Circuit Court records, Lloyd pled guilty to aggravated burglary, a Class C felony, in October 2010. The incident stemmed from the theft of a handgun reported stolen from a Maryville residence in May 2010.
According to Picard, Lloyd is a citizen of the United Kingdom and a legal permanent resident of the United States.
“When someone has some sort of status here, (a) residency, someone would have to commit crimes that would put that status in jeopardy,” Picard said, adding that crimes involving “moral turpitude” are such an example.
“So you’re basically looking at felonies,” Picard said. “Although you could pile up a collection of misdemeanors, (which) might get you (deported).”
Picard said violent crimes, multiple offenses and drug trafficking are all examples of charges that might catch the attention of ICE.
According to a Blount County Sheriff’s Office criminal history report, from July 1999 to August 2011, Lloyd has faced more than 40 charges, including, theft, aggravated burglary, resisting arrest and multiple contempt of court and violation of probation charges.
But Katie Hensley, Lloyd’s sister, said that although her brother has made mistakes, he’s not a violent offender and doesn’t deserve to be deported.
“My brother was more than just paper,” Hensley said. “My brother was a good daddy, brother and son. There wasn’t a time in his life where we couldn’t count on him. He was always there, and now he’s going to be gone.”
That’s why she and her mother, Anne Boring, are doing everything they can to keep him in the country. Boring consulted with an immigration lawyer in Memphis when they recently heard about the possibility of deportation, and she’s hired an attorney in Louisiana to help with Lloyd’s upcoming hearing.
Hensley said she feels that the officials are only looking at her brother’s record, not at what kind of person he is. She said Lloyd recently helped a fellow inmate out by sharing money out of his commissary fund and that’s always been the kind of person Lloyd has been.
“He would give you the shirt off his back,” Hensley said. “I don’t know why they’re not looking at those aspects ... he’s paid his dues.”
