The article below is an excerpt from a New York Post article that was published on November 21, 2015. It was written by Josh Kosman.
A Manhattan federal court judge took prosecutors to task for not helping a US citizen escape an “intolerable” situation in Colombia’s notorious La Picota jail.
Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, a serial entrepreneur charged fraud, had asked Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara (SDNY) for help in expediting his extradition hearing saying he has been beaten and feared for his life.
But Bharara claims there is nothing he could do as the US was bound by the US-Colombia extradition treaty. Plus, prosecutors claimed there was no real evidence Tuzman was beaten.
Tuzman is also a flight risk, prosecutors claim.
Judge Paul Gardephe chastised prosecutors — his voice rising at times — telling them to find a way to get Tuzman back to the US as soon as possible.
“I want someone to make it their number one priority” to get him extradited to a US jail, the judge said. “I don’t get the impression you are making it a priority!
“I believe that good people working together could find a creative solution here, but what’s lacking for whatever reason is the motivation,” he said.
Tuzman had been working and living in Colombia part-time when he was arrested on Sept. 7 — one day before a grand jury empaneled by Bharara indicted the 44-year-old businessman, who was the star of the 2001 documentary, “Startup.com.”
Tuzman is sharing his 90 square-foot cell with two inmates, one an accused narcotics trafficker and the other an alleged murderer.
Lawyers for the businessman claim Tuzman was beaten because he is a Wall Street hotshot.
After the attack, Tuzman’s lawyers asked Bharara to help get him out of the jail ASAP by vacating the indictment, allowing him to walk free.
But Tuzman agreed to be immediately rearrested and taken back to the US.
Bharara, in turning down the request, said Tuzman is a flight risk. Once free, Tuzman could flee and there would be nothing the US could do to stop him.
Lawyers for the jailed businessman denied their client was a flight risk, saying he frequently returns to the US to see his family.
“I don’t know if it would wreak havoc to have him surrender to a US official,” Judge Gardephe said.
The judge ordered prosecutors to provide him with an affidavit from a State Department official by close of business Nov. 25 explaining why it would hurt relations between the countries.