A well-liked Casper College instructor fell victim to an Indonesian man trying to conceal his illegal immigrant status and to further a business scam, a defense attorney told a 12-member jury in federal court in Casper on Thursday.

Ardell Knudson helped David Suryadinata set up a business, warehouse and signed for utilities for a computer Internet sales company in Casper in 2006, and unwittingly got caught up in the prosecution of the illegal immigrant, Lisa Barrett said

"This is a man who trusted someone he shouldn't have," Barrett said of Knudson.

Knudson is on trial for one count of harboring an illegal alien. If convicted, he faces up to five years imprisonment, up to a $250,000 fine, and three years supervised release.

In February 2007, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested Suryadinata at a warehouse at 1111 E. B St., and learned he knew Knudson, an engineering instructor and faculty advisor to foreign students.

As part of his plea, Suryadinata agreed to cooperate with the federal government.

Suryadinata testified in a DVD deposition taken in August that before his deportation, he came to the U.S. on a student visa to major in computer science at Casper College.

Suryadinata came to regard Knudson as a friend, and moved in with him in 1998. Other students also lived with Knudson, including one woman who testified for the defense on Thursday.

Because he bought a flight simulator program in Iowa in 2000, the FBI interviewed him in September 2001 after 9-11, he said. Meanwhile, his visa expired.

"So David Suryadinata runs," Barrett said.

He moved to Taos, N.M., to work as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant for two years. In the meantime, he applied for political asylum in the United States, but was later denied.

He was picked up by the border patrol in Las Cruces, N.M., in May 2003 and contacted Knudson for help in posting a $15,000 bond. Knudson refused, Barrett said.

After making bail, he returned to Taos and began a computer refurbishing business; moved to Albuquerque, N.M., in December 2003; and in May 2005 he moved to Portland, Ore.

The cost of doing business in Portland was high, so he contacted Knudson in 2006 and asked him if he wanted to take over the business as well as move the business to Casper.

Knudson formed a firm to pay the bills for Suryadinata's residence, rented the warehouse, opened a bank account, and signed for utilities.

Unknown to Knudson, Barrett said, Suryadinata obtained a telephone line using the college instructor's identification.

After Suryadinata's arrest, ICE agents asked Knudson what he knew and only told him of the arrest near the end of the interview, Barrett said.

Knudson returned to the ICE office to offer more information, but didn't want any problems and was charged with harboring an illegal alien as he was trying to help, she said.

"Ardell is a gentle man," Barrett said. "He just wants the conflict to end. He wants out, says, 'yes this is what David was doing.'"

Reach Tom Morton at (307) 266-0592, or at Tom.Morton@trib.com.