All Shahram (Shawn) Ghodrati wants to do is buy his father, Forghan Ghodrati, a one-way ticket back to his home country of Iran.
The recommendation, presented in Forghan’s sentence hearing on Friday, came after Forghan pleaded guilty in November to aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury, a second-degree felony.
The charges stem from an incident on May 26, 2013 in U student married housing in the West Village. Forghan stabbed his son Shawn in the chest and abdomen, said U Police Sgt. Garth Smith. U Police received the call at 4:03 p.m.
Shawn’s wife awoke from a nap after hearing her husband screaming. When she found him, Forghan had run out of the room, Smith said. The fight appeared to responding officers as an argument between the father and son, although they had to wait to talk to Forghan until a Farsi translator could be present.
“It took us a while to even talk to him through a translator. And when we did, he immediately lawyered up,” Smith said. “He didn’t want to talk.”
In the sentencing hearing on Friday, Forghan’s defense attorney Michael Sikora said Shawn, who has since recovered, no longer wishes for his father to be in his life. Shawn does not want his father to go to jail but would rather pay for Forghan’s trip back to Iran and buy him a car so he can drive a taxi in the country to earn a living.
Shawn’s request was incorporated into the sentencing after minor changes from state prosecutor Clint Heiner.
“I don’t see a point in having Shawn pay for the deportation where he’s already a victim once,” Heiner said to 3rd District Court Judge Randall Skanchy.
Forghan will serve a sentence of one year in the Utah State Prison, with a credit to the 237 days he had served prior to the sentencing. During this time, Shawn will work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and with an immigration officer, identified as Agent Holmes in court, to deport Forghan to Iran. Sikora said this might be difficult because the United States does not have a diplomatic relationship with Iran, and the country may refuse to let him in.
A detainer will be placed on Forghan until a resolution with Iran is reached. After the duration of the jail sentence, Forghan will be on probation for 36 months. During that time he may not contact Shawn or flee to a country illegally. Forghan is also required to take his medications.
“Remaining in this country where he would no longer have a relationship with the members of his family, where he’s 61 years old and doesn’t speak the language [and] has no way to provide for himself, there is simply no future,” Sikora said.
The pre-sentencing report noted cultural differences and mental health issues in Forghan’s case, but he has agreed to voluntarily leave the country after negotiations.
“I want to go home,” Forghan said during the sentencing, as translated by a Farsi interpreter.
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