Relative of Obama arrested in Massachusetts

by Rao Muhammad Aftab Sat Sep 17, 2011 4:17 pm

Updated at: 0542 PST, Tuesday, August 30, 2011
BOSTON: A relative of President Barack Obama was arrested last week outside Boston on charges of drunk driving, an official said on Monday.

Onyango Obama, 67, of Framingham, Massachusetts, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, failure to yield at an intersection and negligent operation of a motor vehicle, said Cara O'Brien, a spokeswoman for the Middlesex District Attorney's office.

Onyango Obama is a half-brother of President Obama's Kenyan father, an administration official confirmed.

Onyango Obama pleaded not guilty on Thursday in Framingham District Court and was released on personal recognizance, O'Brien said, but he was being held on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer.

He hired Ohio immigration attorney Margaret Wong, said Wong spokesman Mike Rogers.

Rogers said Onyango Obama was released from a Massachusetts jail on Monday and was being supervised at an undisclosed location until reporting back to immigration officials on Tuesday.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Washington had no immediate comment on the report. (Reuters)