1997: Authorities say Italian Sebastiano Quagliata, 45, and Albanian Valbona Lucaj, 44, obtain asylum status in the United States after immigration administrator John Shandorf was bribed.
Related article: "Official Charged With Taking Bribes to Grant Immigrants Political Asylum"
Court documents show the pair were part of a bribery case that resulted in the arrest and 2001 conviction of Shandorf. The couple were not criminally charged in connection to the scheme and have denied any involvement, according to court records.
Lucaj, who was originally requesting asylum based on religious grounds after an alleged arrest in Albania, was initially referred for removal from the country. However Shandorf changed the decision and recommended her for approval.
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| Magistrate Michael Delling presides for the arraignment of Sebastiano Quagliata, 45, in the Lapeer Country District Court in Lapeer on August 1, 2014 |
Asylum was granted for the pair.
2003: Lucaj and Quagliata are granted lawful permanent resident status in 2003, despite the allegations of bribery.
2005: The couple is notified the government sought to terminate their asylum status after officials obtained evidence of fraud in their asylum application.
2009: The couple's asylum status is terminated after the government pointed to a number of inconsistencies between applications and interviews given by the pair. The government said the fraud also left the couple ineligible for naturalization despite their lawful permanent resident status.
[And like all the other illegal aliens, the government did NOTHING to deport them.]
May 14, 2012: Metamora Township police are called to the 3700 block of Thomas Road after a woman was attacked by a dog while she and her friend were walking their dogs, according to a police report. The woman had been bitten three times in the leg. She went to an area emergency room where she was treated for her injuries.
Lapeer County Animal Control contacted the owner of the dog a day later, according to a complaint report from the Lapeer County Animal Control. An officer went to the home of Lucaj and Quagliata in the 5500 block of Thomas Road, where the dog, described in the report as a Cane Corso, was ordered to be put in quarantine for 10 days inside the home following the bite.
At the time of the bite, the owner was not sure if the dog was vaccinated against rabies. The dog was from quarantine on May 25, 2012.
November 21, 2013: A man is walking northbound in front of the home in the 5500 block of Thomas Road when three dogs came running out at him, according to a complaint report from the Lapeer County Animal Control. Of the three dogs, one bit him in the right leg. The man told officers the dog's owner asked him not to call police as he took the dogs inside, according to the report.
The man was treated for his injuries at the Oxford Urgent Care, where he received a few stitches.
Animal Control officers attempted to talk to the dog's owners, but no one answered the door, according to the report A woman later came to the Animal Control who lives at the home and told officers her dogs were tied up inside at the time of the attack. According to the report, officers then told the woman a man came from her home and grabbed the dogs and took them back inside the house. The woman was advised to put her brindle-colored Cane Corso into quarantine for 10 days and then call the Animal Control.
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| Valbona Lucaj, 44, stands in the courtroom for her arraignment in the Lapeer Country District Court in Lapeer on August 1, 2014. |
March 31, 2014: Detroit U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen declines to stop the couple's deportation, supporting the government's contention that Lucaj "lacked good moral character" as evidenced by the alleged fraud.
July 23, 2014, 5:30 p.m.: Craig Sytsma, 46 of Livonia, leaves work at Eltro Services in Oxford for an evening run around 5:30 p.m. Metamora Township Police Chief David Mallett said Sytsma began his run heading northbound on Thomas Road from M-24. He said about two miles in, just south of Brauer Road, a witness reported seeing Sytsma running and said the men waved at each other as the man was mowing his lawn.
When the witness made another pass he saw the two Cane Corso dogs attacking Sytsma. The man went inside to get a gun and shot one of the dogs, which stopped the attack.
Sytsma did not survive the attack.
July 23, 2014: The two Cane Corso dogs responsible for the fatal attack on Sytsma taken by Lapeer County Animal Control and put into quarantine.
July 25, 2014: One adult dog and seven puppies (they're breeders!) are removed from Lucaj and Quagliata's Metamora Township home. The Lapeer County Sheriff's Department, Metamora Township Police Department and Lapeer County Animal Control spent Friday afternoon removing dogs from the home on Thomas Road, south of Brauer Road in Metamora.
July 28, 2014: Lapeer County Prosecutor Tim Turkelson told the Flint Journal his office was awaiting the results of a police investigation into the deadly attack, but said his office could pursue manslaughter charges against Lucaj and Quagliata if the facts of the case warranted the felony.
July 29, 2014: The Lapeer County Prosecutor's Office seeks a judge's order to euthanize the two Cane Corso dogs involved in the fatal mauling of Systma, as well as the other adult dog and seven puppies taken from Lucaj and Quagliata's home.
July 30, 2014: Police complete the investigation and forward the report to the Lapeer County Prosecutor's Office.
Despite the previous bite incidents involving dogs owned by Lucaj and Quagliata, Turkelson said his office was not made aware of those attacks.
July 31, 2014: Second-degree murder warrants issued for Quagliata and Lucaj. He said his office also added a count for each owner of possession of a dangerous animal causing death, which qualifies for up to 15 years in prison if they are convicted.
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| Police officers escort Sebastiano Quagliata, 45, into the courtroom to appear at his arraignment in the Lapeer Country District Court in Lapeer on August 1, 2014 |
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| Quagliata's defense attorney Jason Malkiewicz speaks to media in the Lapeer Country District Court in Lapeer on August 1, 2014. |
Aug. 1, 2014: Quagliata and Lucaj arraigned before Lapeer County Magistrate Michael Delling.
Following the arraignment, Lapeer County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Hodges said seven puppies, aged eight weeks, and a four-month-old puppy will not be euthanized by the animal shelter following an agreement between his office and attorneys defending Quagliata and Lucaj.
Three adult Cane Corsos, owned by Quagliata and Lucaj, will be euthanized after being involved in three biting incidents, including the two dogs that were involved in the deadly mauling.
The case against Lucaj and Quagliata could be a first-of-its-kind in Michigan.
In her more than 25-year legal career, Cooley Law School professor Tonya Krause-Phelan said she has never heard of case where someone in Michigan has been charged with murder for the actions of their dog.
(Michigan Live - Aug 2, 2014)
Related:
- Lapeer prosecutor says he would have acted if told of prior dog attacks
- Police, animal control did little as dogs attacked walkers, records say
- Illegal aliens facing murder charges, deportation after dogs killed jogger
- Deadly dog mauling: A timeline of events for fatal attack in Lapeer County
- Vet warned couple that dogs were dangerous before deadly attack
- Two massive cane corso dogs maul to death Michigan jogger, owner could face charges
