http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/ ... 314984.htm

Posted on Fri, Dec. 02, 2005

U.S. deports former priest from Ecuador

BY ALFONSO CHARDY
Knight Ridder Newspapers

MIAMI - A former priest from Ecuador who also once served as a customs director in that nation, where he was convicted of embezzling more than $1 million, was deported Friday.

Carlos Flores Andrade was put aboard a flight to Quito and expelled from the United States, Barbara Gonzalez, a Miami spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said. The removal came after the Board of Immigration Appeals on Nov. 21 rejected Flores Andrade's appeal to remain in the country. A Miami immigration judge ordered his removal June 9.

"Those who attempt to flee justice by hiding in the United States should know that they will be found," said Riah Ramlogan, chief counsel for the immigration agency in Miami. "Our country will not be used as a haven by criminals."

The case drew little attention in the United States, but it made headlines in Ecuador when Flores Andrade, 56, was detained in Miami on Nov. 19, 2003, on immigration-related allegations. A federal official at the time said the detention was prompted by the embezzlement case.

When Flores Andrade was first detained and put in deportation proceedings, the federal official said he had been involved in a $10 million embezzlement case. But the Board of Immigration Appeals' written ruling, obtained by The Miami Herald, said Flores Andrade was convicted of embezzling more than $1 million and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

When he was detained, the federal official said, Flores Andrade was considered a fugitive from Ecuadoran justice. Gonzalez said in Friday's statement that immigration authorities became aware of Flores Andrade's presence because of an Interpol warrant for his arrest.

Flores Andrade was picked up at an address in the Miami area and put in immigration custody. He had obtained a green card in 1981, but the Board of Immigration Appeals ruled he had abandoned his permanent U.S. residence because he spent most of his time living in Ecuador.