Tancredo Fights Extradition Of 'Dog' Chapman

Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo is urging Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice not to extradite bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman to Mexico.

In September, United States marshals arrested Chapman and the two men who helped him track down a fugitive in Mexico.

Chapman and the men found Max Factor heir Andrew Luster in Mexico in June 2003. Luster disappeared during his rape and poisoning trial. Luster was convicted of 86 counts of drugging and assaulting women in his absence.

Chapman received a tip about Luster's whereabouts in Mexico. He said he was accompanied by a local Mexican police officer and he was in communication with American officials about his search for Luster while in Mexico.

Chapman said his police escort did not meet him at a Mexican jail, Mexican authorities said Chapman refused to turn over Luster.

Bounty hunting is illegal in Mexico, and Mexican authorities then filed charges of deprivation of freedom and conspiracy against Chapman and the two others.

A judge in Hawaii signed on arrest warrant on those charges in September. That's when Chapman was arrested.

An extradition hearing is set for November; that is why Rep. Tancredo is asking Secretary Rice to get involved now. In a letter signed by 29 members of Congress Tancredo is urging Rice to deny the extradition request.

In it, Tancredo said the judge dismissed the charge which would allow Mexico to extradite Chapman.

No. I do believe Tancredo has better things to spend his time on, however.

I notice that you live in limp-wristed Californicate.

I happen to live in Congressman Tancredo's Congressional district and his job is to serve my interests and not yours.

I happen to FULLY SUPPORT Congressman Tancredo's efforts to fight the good fight and would expect him to do none other.

He has proven himself to be a righteous man for many, many years (over 20 that I am personally aware of).

So, in short, BUTT OUT!! and worry about your own sewer of a state.

Chapman said his police escort did not meet him at a Mexican jail, Mexican authorities said Chapman refused to turn over Luster.

How exactly does Chapman "refuse to turn over Luster" to Mexican authorities? What exactly do they mean by that rather absurd comment?

Were they hiding Luster from the Police? Or did they simply object to handing over Lester to a notoriously corrupt police force which he had reason to fear might let him go in exchange for a sizable bribe?

Bounty hunting may be illegal in Mexico, but it is legal in the US. I was under the impression that we only extradited people if their actions would have been criminal under US law.

In the end, Luster was turned over to Mexican authorities and was extradited to the United States.

It's hard to understand how you can be charged with depriving a fugitive, convicted serial rapist of his freedom for making sure he wasn't simply allowed to escape because of corruption or because the police believed his denials that he was Luster.

The situation was made worse by Luster conversing with the Police in Spanish which Chapman and his associates didn't understand. Therefore Chapman was justifiably concerned that Luster might get released before the US government could be made aware that he had been found and request extradition.

Chapman's actions may have been illegal under Mexican law, but unless he did something that would have rather obviously been illegal under US law, the US government should refuse to extradite him.

If the Mexican government wanted to prosecute Chapman, they shouldn't have allowed him to leave Mexico.

It appears that this has much more to do with Luster's political connections and money than with Chapman's actions. It appears to be about who he caught, not about how he did it.

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