It appears as if Manuel Noriega's last ditch effort to avoid extradition to France may be over. His attorneys had previously filed two petitions to the U.S. Supreme Court in an attempt to avoid being sent back to France to stand trial. The high court rejected Noriega's second bid to appeal an earlier decision which will allow France to take Noriega and have him stand trial on money laundering charges. The former Panamanian president is accused of laundering $3.1 million in drug money by purchasing an apartment in Paris, France. The Miami federal criminal attorney representing Noriega acknowledged that the battle against extradition seemed to have run its course.
The French courts have already convicted Noriega of money laundering in absentia, but the French government has promised him a new criminal trial upon his return. Noriega was arrested during the U.S. invasion of Panama. In 1992, after a lengthy trial Noriega was convicted in a Miami, Florida federal court for cocaine trafficking, money laundering and racketeering. He completed his 10 year prison sentence in September 2007, but remains in federal custody. He has been held beyond his release date while the extradition matter with France was sorted out in the federal court system.
In 1992, soon after his arrest, a federal judge ruled that Noriega was a prisoner of war and given POW status. Later, the same judge ruled that his POW status did not preclude his extradition to a third party. Noriega's appellate attorneys tried to use his prisoner of war status to block his extradition. His attorneys argued that his prisoner of war status under the Geneva Convention gave him the right to be repatriated back to Panama. The lower federal courts have ruled otherwise and have deemed the extradition to France proper. As the legal experts opined, the Supreme Court refused to hear the case.
Noriega's criminal defense attorney is expected to travel to France next week in an effort to resolve the money laundering case favorably for his client. The attorney was quoted as saying, "There are no options left in the United States, it's over." The federal marshals have not disclosed when Noriega will be transported to France. The marshal service usually does not disclose prisoner transfers for security reasons.
Supreme Court Refuses Noriega's Re-Hearing Request, The Washington Post, March 22, 2010.
