Crime & Safety

Portugal Denies 2nd US Appeal for Fugitive Return

Escaped prisoner George Wright convicted of killing man in Wall

LISBON, Portugal — Portugal's Supreme Court has refused a second appeal by the U.S. to extradite American fugitive George Wright.

A court ruling provided to The Associated Press on Wednesday showed judges confirmed a decision last month to deny a U.S. appeal for extradition. They issued their ruling Tuesday without providing details.

The U.S. can lodge a final appeal at the Constitutional Court in Lisbon.

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Portuguese police captured the 68-year-old Wright near the capital Lisbon last September, ending his four decades on the lam after escaping from a New Jersey prison.

A lower court judge ruled in November that Wright had become a Portuguese citizen and that, under Portuguese law, the statute of limitations on his 15- to 30-year sentence for a robbery-murder in New Jersey had expired. It consequently refused to send him back to the U.S.

Find out what's happening in Wallwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Supreme Court judges wrote in Tuesday's decision that the U.S. arguments "did not invalidate" the earlier ruling.

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