Rami Saba convicted in Dietz case

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A jury found Rami Saba guilty Wednesday of all 11 federal charges he faced in connection with the 2007 disappearance of Donald Dietz of Saranac, including conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

Saba could face life in prison.

The jurors -- seven women and five men -- returned those verdicts after roughly five hours of deliberations beginning late Tuesday afternoon and continuing Wednesday morning.

Dietz's brother Marv Dietz said he was "very happy" about the jury's decision.

"All we asked for was justice to be served, whether it was him guilty or not guilty," Marv Dietz told reporters. "And today, justice was served."

But he and his sister Cheryl McIntire told reporters "it's not done yet."

"We're still waiting," McIntire said. "There's really no closure without a body. We're trying to hold together as best we can."

Donald Dietz, known in Saranac as the bicycle man, was last seen in September 2007.

"People might have thought of him as a strange man," McIntire said. "But he was just a person who liked to live alone. He was normal. He was very careful with his money. It was really sad that someone would pick on him."

Saba and Raogo Ouedraogo -- who was found guilty in a separate trial -- now stand convicted of kidnapping Dietz to get at his money.

Dietz's family will have to weigh whether to have a memorial service, Marv Dietz said. He said he still receives calls from people who say they have information in the case.

Michigan State Police investigators welcome any tips, U.S. Attorney Donald Davis told reporters.

Asked by 24 Hour News 8 whether his office has anything more to do in the case, Davis said that, "given that there are still parts of the puzzle that aren't solved, we will assist Michigan State Police and the [U.S.] Secret Service in trying to ... find those pieces of the puzzle."

"Looking for Don Dietz's body -- that won't ever stop," the prosecutor said. "And if that results in additional charges, whether federal or state, that's how it goes."

The body could offer forensic evidence to investigators, Davis said.

The guilty verdicts against Saba came after he represented himself at trial. Saba told the jury the prosecution's case was all about "emotions" and "assumptions."

Apparently, they didn't agree.

Don Segavac, who is married to one of Donald Dietz's sisters, said the verdicts are "just one step in the final journey to that last phone call you get years from now that puts the whole thing to rest: when you hear Rami Saba died in jail."

Sentencing is set to happen within three months, U.S. District Judge Janet Neff said in court Wednesday.

A lawyer assisting Saba said it was too early to say whether an appeal would be filed.