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A Democratic prosecutor permitted a Tajik national held in a psychiatric hospital after his landlord’s killing to travel to Washington to obtain a passport, which he later used to leave the U.S.
Abdulloi Doniyor Toshpulodzoda left the country after he was granted a second “community pass” in July from the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute (NVMHI) in Falls Church, went to nearby Dulles International Airport and flew to Dushanbe, Tajikistan, by way of Turkey, prompting renewed criticism of Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano over his prosecution of cases involving migrants.
Toshpulodzoda had been found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) in the killing of Mohammad Hemmatian but was still granted the equivalent of a day pass twice — once to travel 20 miles to Washington, D.C., to obtain a passport and again in July to stay at an apartment furnished through a Fairfax County program — despite being under county supervision.
Former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares criticized Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano for failing to recognize what Miyares described as the danger of allowing Toshpulodzoda to obtain a passport.
Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano is seen speaking at an event in Fairfax County, Virginia. (Sarah Voisin/Getty Images)
“A judge said no, Virginia authorities said yes anyway,” former Attorney General Jason Miyares said in a statement. Descano has faced criticism for years over his prosecution of cases involving illegal immigrants and foreign nationals.
“Fairfax’s Steve Descano supported a violent, committed man accused of killing his landlord to obtain a passport. The passport request should have been the five-alarm fire, but instead it ignored and he was allowed to walk out of a mental facility and flee the country. This is an unconscionable level of incompetence,” Miyares added.
Virginians for Safe Communities, an advocacy group that highlights crimes, including those involving foreign nationals and illegal immigrants, called Fairfax County’s justice system “a joke.”
“You hear the one about the crazed killer who walked into Dulles and went to Tajikistan?” the group tweeted.
“If Descano policies were literally written by illegal immigrant confessed murderers in mental institutions, how would they be different?” asked conservative commentator Mary Katharine Ham.
Descano’s office confirmed it “did not oppose” Toshpulodzoda taking an “escorted visit” outside the confines of NVMHI to obtain “updated documentation from the [Tajik] embassy.”
“[B]ut, that is not indicative of our position on community release [itself],” a Descano spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman said Descano’s prosecutors repeatedly opposed Toshpulodzoda’s release in annual court hearings, citing public safety concerns.
Descano’s prosecutor Claiborne Richardson and Toshpulodzoda’s attorney, Amy Jordan, jointly requested and received court permission for Toshpulodzoda to travel to Washington, D.C., with institute staff on May 29, 2024, according to court documents.
Descano’s office said prosecutors argued at a June hearing that Toshpulodzoda should remain in the institute’s custody, and the judge agreed.
Descano’s office deferred further questions about the issuance of day passes to the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health.
Laura Cunningham, a spokesperson for VDBH, said federal and state privacy laws preclude public discussion of individual patients’ cases.
She added that the “community pass” process utilized by Toshpulodzoda is available under Virginia law for clinical teams to request “graduated privileges” that are later reviewed by experts before “progress[ing] to the next level.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board for comment. The board furnished the Alexandria apartment where Toshpulodzoda stayed through its Fairfax Permanent Supportive Housing Program.
The Daily Wire reported that Toshpulodzoda told authorities he was “guilty” but was later found NGRI.
A DHS spokesperson said in a statement that Toshpulodzoda’s departure was the “ultimate compliance of his final removal order” placed on him after an immigration judge ordered him removed on June 24.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares speaks during an interview at the Office of the Attorney General in Richmond, Va., Tuesday, May 9, 2023. (Ryan M. Kelly/AP Photo)
Conservative columnist and Fairfax resident Tim Carney similarly tweeted that “my local prosecutor Steve Descano has a unique deportation policy.”
“He endorsed giving an accused murderer, who was deemed insane, permission to travel to DC to get a passport. The accused murderer, on weekend leave, then hopped on a plane and fled to Asia.”
“Total system failure,” former police officer turned conservative commentator Brandon Tatum tweeted.
Virginia authorities have issued a warrant for Toshpulodzoda’s arrest if he returns to the U.S.
Toshpulodzoda entered the U.S. during the Obama administration and later violated the terms of his admission, according to DHS.
According to several reports, Toshpulodzoda admitted to Fairfax authorities that he killed Hemmatian but was later found NGRI and institutionalized.
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Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Descano’s local races in the heavily Democratic Beltway county.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Tajik Embassy, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office and the State Department for comment.