Pubdate: Tue, 27 Mar 2001 Source: Ubyssey (Canada) Contact: http://www.ubyssey.bc.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/706 Author: Sarah Morrison RICHARDSON COMES HOME TRIUMFant Return For UBC Researcher Deported To US On Old Drug Charges A senior researcher at UBC's TRIUMF laboratory returned home this weekend after serving a nine-month prison sentence for a crime he committed over 30 years ago. Allen Richardson, whose legal name is Christopher Peristein, was arrested in 1970 in New York for selling $20-worth of LSD to an undercover police officer. Nineteen at the time, Richardson received a four-year sentence, and was sent to Attica State Prison. Richardson escaped from prison and crossed into Canada, where he was sheltered by an anti-war group. It is believed he obtained a false passport with the name 'Allen Richardson,' and lived in Canada until 1998, when an informant notified American authorities that Richardson was living in Canada. Richardson was arrested by the RCMP, and deported to the US, where he served a seven-month term in New York's medium-security Woodbourne Correctional Facility. Back in Canada, Richardson is now preparing his request to stay in the country. In a hearing this Friday, Richardson will go before the Immigration and Refugee Board to appeal the rejection of a sponsorship application filed by his wife a year and a half ago. While Richardson's request would ordinarily be denied because of his criminal record, exceptions can be made, according to his lawyer. "If the appeal decision of the Immigration and Refugee Board deems it a worthy enough case, they can allow them to become a permanent resident of Canada, notwithstanding the fact that he is criminally inadmissible," explained Richardson's immigration lawyer, Aleksandar Stojicevic. Stojicevic expressed optimism about the hearing. "The likelihood of success is probably better than 90 per cent. And as his lawyer, I don't say that lightly," he said. "There's overwhelming humanitarian and compassion considerations here...It's something he did 30 years ago," he said. Stojicevic criticised the events that led to Richardson's four-year sentence in 1970, and spoke highly of the him. "Here, he's really led pretty close to an exemplary life: director of the West Van SPCA, he's had a steady job at UBC for the past 20 years." From 1982 until his arrest, Richardson worked as a senior technical researcher at UBC's TRIUMF, Canada's national laboratory of particle and nuclear physics. "It was a surprise when he was taken out of here," said Jim Hanlon, TRIUMF's manager of human resources and administration. "And we didn't know he was working under an assumed identity, that was a surprise." Hanlon says that Richardson's job at TRIUMF is still waiting for him. "We don't have an exact date when he's coming back, but we've got a position open for him here." Richardson was unavailable for comment at press time. - --- MAP posted-by: GD