“His conviction was a blow to us as a family but we wanted to fight back. We wanted to appeal that decision until my husband was arrested by [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] officials last June,” Mrs. Saluta said in a letter to Superior Court Presiding Judge Robert C. Naraja, who has yet to sentence her husband.
Last May, Mr. Saluta was convicted by a local jury on the charge of assaulting Alejandro Orellano with a knife in an incident that occurred on April 19, 2009.
Naraja also convicted Mr. Saluta of disturbing the peace.
Last week, Naraja issued a bench warrant against Mr. Saluta with a $1,000 bail after he failed to attend his sentencing hearing.
The court was informed that Mr. Saluta was in the custody of ICE on Guam.
Mrs. Saluta informed the court that her husband was arrested last June at their house.
“He has been in jail awaiting for deportation,” Mrs. Saluta said, adding she spoke with immigration officials “and they have not told me why my husband is in jail.”
Mrs. Saluta asked Naraja to reconsider the case of her husband.
She said her “husband is a reasonable man” who was “wrongfully convicted.”
“He has his flaws but he has never done anything to intentionally hurt people. He has always been helpful. His insistence to say the truth and do what is just is what he gets him into arguments but he listens,” Mrs. Saluta said.
She added: “My husband is not a hard criminal. He is a loving father to our [five children] and a wonderful husband to me. He is stubborn only when he thinks he is in the right and he fights for what he thinks is right.”
During trial, Mr. Saluta told jurors that at the time of the incident, he was holding his lighter which he described as a “shining metal.”
Mrs. Saluta said their “troubles began when our family was evicted by our landlord without due process and we had to take shelter on a stage at the Susupe Beach Park.”
“We were splashed in the news for several weeks. We were unjustly judged by people who think that we are just here to cause chaos. We were just trying to find shelter for our kids. We never asked for publicity. We were asked by some people and we answered them honestly and we were condemned for it,” Mrs. Saluta went on to say.
She said her husband “shrugged it off,” referring to the criminal charges, “because he believed that the charges will not stick since he did not do anything wrong.”
Her husband, she added, surrendered to police after reading the news of the criminal charges against him.
“It just sprang from an argument and no one got hurt. He thought he would not be convicted believing the truth will come out and he will be vindicated. Unfortunately, he was judged not by his peers but by publicity,” Mrs. Saluta said.
“He is a good man and does not deserve this. I am begging you, Judge Naraja. Please help us. My children have been crying most days looking for their father. They do not want to go to school anymore fearing he might leave any day. I have been trying to be strong but there are times when I break down, too.”
Next month, Naraja will hear the prosecution’s motion to release Mr. Saluta’s passport.
