Another Nazi war criminal has been ordered deported by a US immigration judge. Jonas Stelmokas, 82, of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania is accused of assisting in the Nazi massacre of thousands of Jews in his native Lithuania. According to the Justice Department, between 1941 and 1944, Stelmokas served as a platoon commander in a Nazi-sponsored Lithuanian unit that killed thousands of Jews and partisans who fought the Germans.

Stelmokas was stripped of his citizenship three years ago and the recent deportation order is the latest step in the process of returning his to Lithuania.

Immigration Judge Donald V. Ferlise denounced Stelmokas in a decision read from the bench. In response to Stelmokas’ denial that there were Jewish ghettos in Lithuania during the war, Ferlise called him a liar stating that “His lying to this court pales in comparison to what he and his Nazi thug friends did to the Jews in Lithuania. It pales in comparison to what the Nazis did to the Jews throughout Europe.”

Stelmokas denied participating in any massacres, but the Justice Department produced documents showing Stemokas sought permission to “annihilate” partisans. Other documents showed Stelmokas served as a guard in a Lithuanian ghetto in which Jews were imprisoned, starved, lived in filthy, rat-infested conditions and randomly shot. Stelmokas, according to the documents, served as a duty officer during a period when 9,200 Jews were executed in the Ghetto. The Immigration Judge held that while the evidence did not prove that Stelmokas personally killed anyone, he was responsible for the actions of his unit.

Stelmokas’ lawyer said that the case would be appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals. He will argue that the evidence does not establish a direct link showing participation in Nazi atrocities. The lawyer also cited the fact that Stelmokas has an adult son in a school for the mentally retarded and the deportation would have an adverse affect on the son.