Overview
- ICE ERO Philadelphia said it removed Bou Khathavong, a dual citizen of Laos and Thailand, to Laos on September 2 and publicly announced the action on October 28.
- Khathavong was convicted in 1996 of criminal conspiracy in the 1994 beating death of 16-year-old Eddie Polec outside St. Cecilia’s Church in Philadelphia’s Fox Chase neighborhood and received a five-to-ten-year sentence.
- Authorities said the attack involved a group of suburban teenagers wielding baseball bats and hockey sticks, and Polec died from multiple skull fractures.
- INS placed a detainer after Khathavong’s conviction, served a 1998 notice to appear charging him as an aggravated felon under INA Section 237, and an immigration judge ordered his removal in December 2004.
- He was released under supervision in 2005 before ICE’s 2025 enforcement steps, including a July 25 arrest reported by NBC 10, with ICE stating the removal serves public safety and the victim’s family.