Hughie Antony O'Donoghue, who has "numerous criminal convictions in Ireland," was removed by Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston deportation officers on Wednesday, January 17.
“Not only was Hughie O'Donoghue wanted by Irish authorities on four active arrest warrants — he also has an extensive history of violent crimes,” ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons said in a statement on January 24.
“O'Donoghue represented a threat to the residents of our Massachusetts communities, and ERO Boston was not going to let him evade justice.
"We cannot allow New England to become a safe haven for the world’s criminals.”
ERO Boston said on Wednesday that O'Donoghue entered the US in August 2021 at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey with a visa waiver. He later overstayed his admission.
In October 2023, Maynard Police in Massachusetts said O'Donoghue had been arrested and charged with larceny over $1,200 from a victim 60 or older,
conspiracy, and being an unlicensed home improvement contractor.
O'Donoghue was arrested alongside fellow Irish national Michael Nevin, who Maynard Police said was also wanted on arrest warrants out of Ireland.
ERO Boston said that upon learning of O'Donoghue's apprehension, it lodged an immigration detainer against him with Quincy District Court. However, the court granted O'Donoghue release on bail and pretrial conditions.
ERO Boston said it encountered O'Donoghue and lodged an immigration detainer against him during a routine admission list screening of all foreign-born inmates at the Norfolk County Sheriff's Office in November 2023.
The following month, the Concord District Court convicted O'Donoghue of larceny, conspiracy, and home improvement fraud and sentenced him to a one-year suspended sentence, three years of probation, and release upon paying $30,000 restitution.
Following his release on the same day, the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office transferred O'Donoghue to ERO Boston’s custody.
ERO Boston said it served O'Donoghue with an administrative order charging removability as a noncitizen who stayed longer than permitted.
While O'Donoghue was in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, ERO Boston was notified of O'Donoghue’s substantial criminal history in Ireland, which included four active warrants for assault causing harm, failing to appear, careless driving, and a summary offense.
Deportation officers from ERO Boston removed O'Donoghue from the US on January 17 and turned him over to authorities in Ireland.
O'Donoghue's removal from the US came just days before Quincy Police said that law enforcement in Massachusetts had recently issued several advisories about suspected “Irish Traveler" schemes and encouraged victims to report this crime so it can be investigated.
These scams, police said, usually start with an unsolicited visit to someone's home by a contractor stating they have "leftover materials" and the person keeps finding more items to repair on your property.
This type of crime is on the rise in Massachusetts, Quincy Police said on Monday, adding that the US Department of Homeland Security was notified and this matter remains under investigation by the Quincy Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
According to ICE's Fiscal Year 2023 report, 37 citizens of Ireland were removed from the US in 2023, an increase of 20 from 2022.
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