QCOSTARICA – John Wesley Saatio is headed for home on Saturday, confirmed the Minister of Security, Gustavo Mata, who said he spoke to U.S. authorities to get the fugitive back on American soil as soon as possible.
According to Mata, the foreigner will be taken (under heavy guard) in the morning to the Juan Santamaria airport, where he will board a commercial flight that leaves Costa Rica at 12:55pm. According to fly2sanjose.com, United Airlines fligth 1490, Houston bound, is the only one leaving Costa Rica at 12:55pm.
The Minister explained that the fugitive will handed over to the United States Marshals Service, the primary agency for fugitive operations and responsible for prisoner transport.
“We made significant efforts to get him out of the country in record time. When these type of individuals come to the country, we have to act strong and forceful. The country has to send a message to these antisocials with sex offences, so they know we don’t want them,” said Mata.
The Minister explained that the fugitive is being transported on a commercial flight to get him out promptly and cannot wait for a special plane to arrive.
Saatio was arrested in Costa Rica on June 2 for being in the country illegally, in the area of Jaco beach and authorities learning he was a wanted fugitive in the United States.
He was under orders of the of the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (immigration service) to be extradited, but the process was suspended following a request for asylum.
On June 19, Saatio escaped from the Hatillo immigration detention centre, recaptured on Tuesday, June 21. That same day his refugee request was denied.
In the U.S., in Houghton County, Michigan, Saatio faces charges of trespassing, malicious destruction of police property and sexual abuse. On June 19, 2015, he escaped while being transported back to prison after a hearing in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Authorities do not yet know how the convicted sex offender made his way from the United States and enter Costa Rica.
Source La Nacion
