Posted on 09/07/2007 7:54:41 PM PDT by LdSentinal
A lawyer for fugitive Democratic Party fundraiser Norman Hsu said today that Hsu has been under "enormous and perhaps unbearable" strain in the past week and that Hsu's attorneys are relieved he is being cared for in a Colorado hospital.
James Brosnahan, a San Francisco lawyer, said the criminal case pending against Hsu in San Mateo County Superior Court "will be handled in its proper course."
Brosnahan said, "The strain he has been under during the last week has been enormous, and perhaps, unbearable. We will be getting him the best medical care available."
Hsu, 56, was arrested by the FBI at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., at 7 p.m. Thursday on a federal charge of unlawful interstate flight to avoid prosecution.
Hospital spokeswoman Kim Williams said Hsu is in "fair condition" but said she could not disclose the nature of his illness or say when he will be released.
Hsu had been taken to the hospital from an Amtrak train, according to Grand Junction police spokeswoman Linda Bowman.
Federal prosecutors in San Francisco filed the flight charge Thursday at the request of the California Attorney General's Office after Hsu failed to appear in San Mateo County Superior Court on Wednesday for proceedings on a 15-year-old grand theft conviction in an investment fraud case.
FBI spokesman Joseph Schadler said today that proceedings to transfer Hsu to California will begin after he leaves the hospital and said he expected Hsu to remain at the hospital at least through today.
Schadler said he expects the federal charge to be dropped after Hsu is returned to San Mateo County jurisdiction.
In the meantime, Hsu is in federal custody at the hospital and is being watched by Mesa County sheriff's deputies, Schadler said.
Deputy California Attorney General Ralph Sivilla said: "We appreciate the excellent work by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office in obtaining an arrest warrant and apprehending Mr. Hsu as quickly as possible."
Lawyers from the state Attorney General's Office are acting as prosecutors in the San Mateo County case.
When Hsu failed to show up in court Wednesday morning, Sivilla said Brosnahan told him Hsu had been scheduled to arrive at Oakland International Airport 5:30 a.m. Wednesday on a charter flight from New York.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said he could not reveal the names of train passengers but said a passenger with "a medical issue" was taken off a train at Grand Junction midday Thursday after Amtrak crewmembers summoned emergency services.
Magliari said the train runs daily from Emeryville to Chicago via Denver. It left Emeryville at 7:10 a.m. Wednesday and was due in Grand Junction at 11:43 a.m. Thursday, but arrived a few minutes early, he said.
Grand Junction Fire Department spokesman Mike Page said emergency responders from the department were summoned Thursday to aid a patient who had fallen on the train, according to a dispatch report.
The patient was able to walk off the train and arrived at the hospital at 12:02 p.m., Page said.
Schadler declined to give details on how the FBI found Hsu at the hospital.
The FBI spokesman said the procedure for transferring Hsu will be that he will first appear before a federal magistrate in Colorado, where he will have the choice of either contesting or not contesting the move.
After a federal magistrate in Colorado orders the transfer, Hsu will be brought before a federal magistrate in Northern California, probably in San Francisco, and then will be moved to San Mateo County custody, Schadler said. At that point, under normal procedures, the federal charge would be dropped, the FBI agent said.
Natalya LaBauve, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco, said she had no information about when the federal complaint filed against Hsu will be unsealed or when Hsu is expected to appear in federal court in San Francisco.
In the San Mateo County case, Hsu was accused in 1991 of stealing $1 million from about 20 investors to buy and resell latex gloves that did not exist, according to the attorney general's office. He pleaded no contest in 1992 to one count of grand theft and under the plea agreement was to be sentenced to three years in state prison and payment of restitution to the victims.
When Hsu failed to show up for sentencing in 1992, a judge issued a warrant for his arrest and set bail at $2 million.
Hsu eluded authorities for 15 years but after recent news stories about his role as a political campaign fundraiser and contributor linked him to the grand theft case, he surrendered before San Mateo County Superior Court Judge James Ellis on Aug. 31 and posted $2 million bail.
When he failed to show up for his next hearing Wednesday, his bail was revoked and a new arrest warrant was issued.
According to Federal Election Commission records, a Norman Hsu -- with apparel-related business names and addresses listed in New York and California -- contributed $260,000 to political parties, most since 2004.
Recipients included the Democratic Party and Democratic U.S. senators Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Barack Obama, D-Ill., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., John Kerry, D-Mass., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
..and look how fatalistic we've become at FR...(& with past history as proof)
..we don't think there's a ghost of a chance this guy will live long enough to confess what he knows, who he knows and what he did.
Waddya bet he “finds” God real soon.
Another MSM "no it's not a lie". One check for $1000 to a Republican compared to over $250,000 to Democrats.
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