Saudi prisoner moved to federal prison in Colo.

A Saudi man convicted of sexual assaulting his housekeeper has been moved from a Colorado state prison to a federal prison.

Homaidan al-Turki was moved Friday from the Limon Correctional Facility to Federal Correction Institution Englewood outside Denver.

One of al-Turki’s lawyers says he was notified the state wanted al-Turki to finish out his sentence in federal prison because of unspecified security concerns. It was unclear whether the Federal Correction Institution was where al-Turki ultimately would be held or was just a stopover.

A spokeswoman for the state prisons system says the transfer was routine but said the department never discusses reasons for moves.

The state’s former prisons chief, who was killed in March, denied al-Turki’s request to serve out his sentence in Saudi Arabia.