Police Works with U.S. to Track, Detain American Fugitive

On November 3, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia reported that the U.S. criminal had been detained in cooperation with the Regional Security Office (RSO) of the U.S. Embassy. James Ulin, RSO officer, praised the cooperation with MIA, and in particular, with its Central Criminal Police Department, as a result of which the fugitive wanted on the ‘Red Notice’ of Interpol, had been arrested. 

“The fugitive was wanted on the Red Notice for the violent crimes in the United States and we are very proud of the cooperation we had with director [Teimuraz] Kupatadze and his officers who were committed to finding this fugitive and seeing to his arrest,” – Ulin said. He also mentioned the parties involved in the two months of investigation, and those included the Regional Security Office of the United States Embassy, the agency for the Diplomatic Security Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Marshals Service and the members of the Georgian Central Criminal Police Department. 

According to the MIA statement, the warrant includes four charges in Texas and seven charges in Louisiana, USA. The Texas charges include persistent sexual abuse of a minor, aggravated sexual assault of a minor (under 14 years old), assault of a family member by suffocation, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The Louisiana charges include filing false public records, falsifying documents by fraudulent means, and two counts of theft between $5,000 and $25,000.

The director of the Central Criminal Police Department of the MIA, Teimuraz Kupatadze, said that “the accused had crossed the state border of Georgia before the international search was announced for him with the Red Notice of Interpol.” The international search for the fugitive was announced on June 27, 2023, and Georgia, as a member state of Interpol, joined the investigative operations. 

According to the MIA statement, the detainee has already been transferred to a detention facility and the extradition procedures required by law are underway.

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