Australia approves extradition of former US Marine
over alleged training of Chinese military pilots
By
KEIRAN SMITH
Associated Press • December
23, 2024
In
this undated photo provided by Saffrine Duggan, her husband, former U.S. Marine
Corps pilot Daniel Duggan, poses for a photo in a restaurant. (Saffrine
Duggan/AP)
NEWCASTLE,
Australia — Former U.S. Marine Corps pilot Daniel Duggan will be extradited
from Australia to the United States over allegations
that he illegally trained Chinese aviators.
Australia’s
Attorney General Mark Dreyfus approved the extradition on Monday, ending the
Boston-born 55-year-old’s nearly two-year attempt to avoid being returned to
the U.S.
Duggan, who served
in the Marines for 12 years before immigrating to Australia and giving up his
U.S. citizenship, has been in a maximum-security prison since he was arrested
in 2022 at his family home in the state of New South Wales. He is the father of
six children.
Dreyfus confirmed
in a statement on Monday he had approved the extradition but did not say when
Duggan would be transferred to the U.S.
“Duggan was given
the opportunity to provide representations as to why he should not be
surrendered to the United States. In arriving at my decision, I took into
consideration all material in front of me,” Dreyfus said in the statement.
In May, a
Sydney judge ruled Duggan could be extradited to the U.S., leaving
an appeal to the attorney general as Duggan’s last hope of remaining in
Australia.
In a 2016
indictment from the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., unsealed in late
2022, prosecutors said Duggan conspired with others to provide training to
Chinese military pilots in 2010 and 2012, and possibly at other times, without
applying for an appropriate license.
Prosecutors say he
received payments totaling around 88,000 Australian dollars ($61,000) and
international travel from another conspirator for what was sometimes described
as “personal development training.”
If convicted,
Duggan faces up to 60 years in prison. He denies the allegations.
“We feel abandoned
by the Australian government and deeply disappointed that they have completely
failed in their duty to protect an Australian family,” his wife, Saffrine
Duggan, said in a statement on Monday. “We are now considering our options.”
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