SAN ANTONIO -- An immigration appeals board has ruled that an African immigrant should be denied permanent residency in the U.S. because there is enough evidence that he was aware of 29 executions that took place in his home country in 1992.

Samuel Komba Kambo, a legal immigrant from Sierra Leone, spent nearly a year jailed while fighting deportation as the government tried to revoke his visa. He was released from custody in October after U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez ruled that U.S.  Immigration and Customs Enforcement was violating his due process rights.

Kambo, 39, was part of a military government that took power in a bloodless coup in Sierra Leone in 1992. He has denied any involvement with the killings, which occurred after his government was in power.

The federal Board of Immigration Appeals said in a decision dated Wednesday that while Kambo may not have “directly participated in or actively assisted in” the 1992 killings, he was “aware of these events and remained passive.”

Kambo, a fuels analyst with a graduate degree from the University of Texas, has been living in Austin for the last 14 years with his wife and four U.S.-born children.

“While (Kambo’s) conduct during his residence in the United States may have been commendable, it is not sufficient to offset the egregiousness of the adverse factors he presents,” the Executive Office for Immigration Review’s board said.

The board heard the case on appeal from the Department of Homeland Security after an immigration judge granted Kambo’s application for permanent residency in June.

Simon Azar-Farr, Kambo’s attorney, said the case was sent back to the immigration judge, Gary Burkholder. Azar-Farr said he will look at other possible ways for Kambo to get residency.

“Mr. Kambo can feel very proud that he was vindicated by the board of the accusation that he had participated in the extrajudicial killings,” Azar-Farr said. “In this regard the government’s accusation has failed.”

Messages left for the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Western District of Texas, which is handling the case for the government, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement were not immediately returned Monday.

Kambo’s wife, Hanaan, said she is hopeful the family will be able to stay in the U.S.

“I guess we won’t be able to have it all, it seems,” she said.  “But we are very glad that it concluded the way it did, that Sam didn’t have anything to do with killings.”