A Parma Heights man pleaded guilty Wednesday to lying about war crime charges in Croatia in order to stay in the United States.
According to court records, Jugoslav Vidić, now 55, was charged with war crimes after he cut off a factory worker’s arm while serving as a Serbian army operative during the Croatian War of Independence in 1991, officials said. That civilian, Stjepan Komes, later died.
As FOX 8 previously reported, Vidić was working at a meat-processing factory in Petrinja, Croatia when newly-elected Croatian President Franjo Tudjman visited the plant, according to a criminal complaint.
The next month, as Serb forces who opposed Croatian independence attacked Petrinja and took over the plant, Vidić allegedly led Komes at gunpoint from a group of detained workers.
The complaint says Komes was never seen alive again, but his body was later exhumed from a mass grave in the town.
Vidić was charged with Komes’ murder in 1994. He was convicted of a war crime in 1998, but he did not appear for trial.
He came to the U.S. in 1999 as a refugee. While applying to become a permanent U.S. resident, Vidić lied to immigration officials, saying he was never charged with breaking the law. He also omitted his service in the Serb forces.
Vidić’s green card was approved in 2005.
On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty and agreed to a judicial order removing him from the United States after his sentence is served.
“Jugoslav Vidić knew he had been charged with a war crime, concealed that fact from U.S. immigration officials so he could enter the United States and enjoyed lawful status in this country for nearly 20 years,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
Vidić is scheduled for sentencing on May 29, 2024. He could face up to 15 years in prison.
Source : WJW
