Posted on 09/15/2006 1:18:49 PM PDT by NapkinUser
Washington, DC – U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) criticized Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in a letter to the Justice Department in the wake of media reports yesterday that the U.S. Marshals raided the Hawaii home of Duane “Dog” Chapman at the direction of the Mexican government.
A spokeswoman for the Marshals Office confirmed yesterday that an arrest warrant was signed Wednesday by a federal magistrate in Hawaii at the urging of the administration. Chapman could now be extradited to to face criminal charges for successfully capturing Max Factor heir Andrew Luster in Puerto Vallarta in 2003. Luster, who was wanted in the for rape is now serving a 124-year sentence.
“This Administration routinely tells Congress that they cannot secure our borders and immigration system due to a lack of resources. We are told that the U.S. Attorneys offices in Border States are simply overwhelmed with cases and cannot prosecute all the violations – even serious ones,” said Tancredo.
“Somehow this administration has plenty of time to track down a Mexican drug smuggler and give him immunity so he can testify against our Border Patrol agents,” said Tancredo referring to the prosecution of two Border Patrol agents facing 20 years in prison for wounding a Mexican smuggler during the course of their normal duties earlier this year.
“Americans are apparently supposed to happily accept presence the roughly 100,000 criminal aliens inside our borders – a number that is growing every year – while the Marshals use their resources to track down ‘Dog’ Chapman on orders from a foreign master for successfully brining a convicted rapist to justice.”
“It is becoming increasingly clear that the real problem with this administrations inability to address the failures of U.S. border security policy is not so much a lack of resources as it is one of misplaced priorities,” concluded Tancredo, “I’m beginning to wonder who is in charge of prioritizing assignments at DOJ. Is it this administration – or the one in Mexico City ?”
Did you check a box, tough guy?
Yes, I am calling you a coward.
He might actually get 1.1%.
Here's another story about the case, that people should read. Excerpt regarding the FBI manhunt -- the FBI received the same tip that Dog received, and was on the trail legally with Mexican Government approval:
“We were surprised, but not embarrassed. He’s in custody and that’s the bottom line,” said supervising FBI agent Bob Mack, who, along with other officials, offered several excuses for not getting to Luster before Chapman: There’s lots of fugitives in Mexico. They were unsure of the legitimacy of the tip. They were hours away from catching him themselves. And, to top them all, Luster was a rapist, not a terrorist.
The story I reference is very sympathetic to Dog Chapman, but the facts embedded show that Dog was really just trying to make a name for himself and get some money, and while it suggests the mexicans were looking the other way with Luster, it offers no concrete evidence of that.
Mexicans have not in this nation been all that cooperative in showing up for their immigration hearings after their catch and release.
As I said earlier, Mexico is a third world drug cartel controlled nation. We are never going to get anything reasonable out of them regarding criminals or control of their borders with us.
Some years back, a US gun dealer traveled into Mexico and when they searched his vehicle the found ONE bullet -- no guns, no rifles, no magazines -- just one bullet. They prosecuted him. When he finally got back to the US, he lost his FFL licence and his right to ever own a firearm again.
For ONE bullet. The justice department will not even review his case because Congress defunded the program that allowed citizens to appeal their debarrement.
I can't remember the man's first name but I am pretty sure that the last name is Bean.
Some Justice Department. Some justice.
You're too much. We're all keyboard commandos here, you, me, Dane, everybody. Virtual hero warriors, everyone of us.
Let's go get some ice tea.
Good work, answer a question with a question and constantly shift the argument to something irrelevent.
I'll let Dog know.
I understand what you are saying. However, Ashcroft served between the two you mentioned.
I saw that episode. The motel guy clearly started that fight - he attacked Leland and Leland counter attacked.
Sure!
Luster, 39, is being held in a Mexican jail after a fight outside a Puerto Vallarta nightclub Tuesday night led to his arrest, police said.
... His arrest came in dramatic fashion early Wednesday morning while a legal liaison for the FBI was en route from Guadalajara, Mexico, to Puerto Vallarta to follow up on a tip from an American couple.
... Luster, who was carrying identification with the name David Carrera, was identified from photographs, Zavala said. Chapman told police his objective was to capture Luster and return him to the United States, and the TV crew was on hand to record the capture of the wealthy fugitive.
As you see, the mexicans didn't know what was happening, Luster was under an alias, the FBI was going to arrest him, but Dog just beat them to it because he wanted the money. In doing so he violated the rules of bounty hunting because he didn't have approval of the bail bondsman, and he violated mexican law.
I understand people hate Mexico, but this is a clear case of an american going to Mexico, breaking the law, and jumping bail. I don't see how we can expect the american government not to respond to an official extradition request in this case.
If our government ignored it, wouldn't we be as bad as what people here are claiming the mexican government is?
Two others on the thread also saw it and say the same thing. I obviously didn't see it.
I also did not see what was left out of the broadcast. For all I know, the three of you could be right. Or not. That's why God made lawyers, I suppose.
Thanks much, though.
Meh... ah, well.
Exactly. Dog did the US a big favor. Mexico is useless to this administration. Maybe the new presidente will do better by us. I certainly hope so. Dog's in my prayers. I like the guy.
Thank you. SO this isn't a problem of corrupt mexicans looking the other way, but an official policy of their government to refuse extradition for people subject to death penalty or life in prison without parole.
I disagree with this, and we need to work it out, the legislation might help. Mexico isn't the only country we have this problem with, many European countries won't extradite people if they are subject to the death penalty.
I believe that in the general instance, mexico will jail the suspects on our request, but won't extradite them unless we promise not to seek the death penalty. But I was hoping for a specific case with a name I could research to see if that was true.
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