House Arrest in U.S. for Former Mexican Official
The Clinton administration lost the right Tuesday to keep a former top Mexican law-enforcement official in jail pending his deportation hearing, but a court ordered him held under house arrest until immigration authorities decide his fate.
A U.S. appeals court ruled that Mario Ruiz Massieu, at one time Mexico’s assistant attorney general, be kept under house arrest, unable to leave his New Jersey home without permission of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and forced to wear an electronic bracelet that federal authorities can use to keep tabs on him.
The decision effectively puts an end to the administration’s efforts to keep Ruiz Massieu in jail in deference to Mexico, which wants to prosecute him on charges that he embezzled $200,000 in government funds.
Ruiz Massieu, who was arrested a year ago in New Jersey, says he is innocent and has fought extradition.
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