Aug 28, 2007 11:31 am US/Eastern
Judge Approves Extradition Of Noriega To France
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MIAMI (CBS4) ―
A federal judge has ruled that former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega can be extradited to France after completing his U.S. prison sentence in Miami on a 1992 drug trafficking conviction. But his lawyers are promising to keep fighting to send him home to Panama.
The ruling is technically a recommendation to the State Department. A higher-ranking federal judge last week rejected claims by Noriega's lawyers that he should be returned to Panama because he was held in the U.S. as a prisoner of war.
U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler refused to block a French request to extradite Noriega from the U.S. to France on money-laundering charges related to his drug conviction in Miami. He's accused of laundering millions of dollars in drug proceeds through French banks.
France has assured the U.S. through diplomatic channels that Noriega will continue to be held there as a POW once extradited.
The 73-year-old Noriega is scheduled to be released from a federal prison in Southwest Miami-Dade on September 9th after serving nearly 18 years for drug trafficking and racketeering.
U.S. forces captured Noriega after a 1989 military invasion ordered by then-President George H.W. Bush in part because of the Panamanian's links to Colombian drug traffickers. He was convicted of accepting bribes to allow shipments of U.S.-bound cocaine to pass through Panama.
While in the U.S., Noriega was convicted in Panama of embezzlement, corruption and murdering political opponents and sentenced to 60 years. But he could wind up serving only a fraction of that time or even get house arrest under Panamanian law.
France wants Noriega to face charges of laundering more than $3 million in drug proceeds through five French banks. Noriega was convicted in absentia of those charges and sentenced to 10 years, but the French agreed to hold a new trial if Noriega is extradited from the U.S.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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