When former Leesburg resident and accused serial stabber Elias Abuelazam was extradited from Georgia to Michigan last week, he arrived by on a small plane, wearing shackles and a bulletproof vest, and was quickly surrounded more than a dozen police officers.
His transit cost Michigan taxpayers thousands of dollars. Area authorities say cost is a big factor in deciding whether to extradite a fugitive — and suspects in minor crimes often aren’t extradited, unless they’re caught in a nearby state.
Local prosecutors and sheriffs say they evaluate how much retrieving a fugitive will cost, how strong their case is and what penalty the suspect could face before seeking extradition.
“We want to make sure the money we spend is worth it,” said Richard Trodden, the Arlington County commonwealth’s attorney. “We don’t want to bring someone back and then he or she is just slapped on the wrist and sent out again.”
Local authorities said they extradite suspects in violent crimes, but only seek extradition in misdemeanors if the suspect is apprehended in an adjacent state.
That’s because travel expenses — such as airfare, rental cars, fuel and hotel rooms — drive extradition costs.
It costs about $300 to $500 when officials can drive to pick up a suspect, said Lt. Greg Henderson of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, which extradited 114 suspects in the past fiscal year.
But a trip to Tucson, Ariz., this year cost $4,900, and the office paid $3,700 to extradite a suspect from Miami, Henderson said.
Those costs, authorities said, mean they have to be sure they can prosecute a case before bringing a suspect back.
If several years have passed, victims and witnesses might no longer be available, said Ian Rodway, chief deputy commonwealth’s attorney in Fairfax County.
But when they can prosecute a serious case, officials said they don’t spare expenses.
“If we have a murder and we can prove our case, then we go get him,” Trodden said.
Bill Miller, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C., said cost issues have “no impact” on whether his office decides to seek extradition.
Recently, the office has extradited suspects in federal crimes from the Philippines and from Colombia.
In some cases, governments can try to recoup extradition costs from the defendants. But officials say that rarely happens.
“I stand a better chance of seeing the second coming of Christ than recovering the costs from some of these defendants,” Fairfax’s Rodway said.
