Thread: India to Extradite Man Convicted in 2005 Murder TX.

India to Extradite Man Convicted in 2005 Murder

Livingston fled after sentencing in 2007

POSTED: 02:41 PM CDT Jun 17, 2015



BROWNSVILLE -A man convicted of murder in Cameron County is a step closer to serving his sentence. It's been more than a year since authorities captured Amit Livingston in India.

Livingston was been on the run since 2007. That's when he pleaded guilty to killing Hermelia Garcia Hernandez of Edinburg.

Abel Limas, the district judge at the time, sentenced Livingston to 23 years in prison. He also granted him 60 days to get his affairs in order before surrendering to prison officials.

Livingston never appeared to serve his sentence.

This morning, Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz said officials transferred Livingston to New Delhi, where he's awaiting extradition. We're told once the final paperwork is signed, India has 60 days to turn Livingston over to U.S. Marshals.

The delay in the extradition was due to charges Livingston faced in India. After his arrest last year, those charges were supposed to be dropped, but Indian government officials reversed their decision. Livingston was tried on those charges in March.

While Livingston has been a fugitive since 2007, the crime took place two years earlier. Hernandez's body was found on a sand dune on South Padre Island in 2005. Livingston was taken into custody more than a year later.

Limas and then-district attorney Armando Villalobos were later convicted on charges connected to Livingston's case.

Investigators said they orchestrated Livingston's release after his guilty plea and later split the bond money.

http://www.krgv.com/news/local-news/...urder/33633564

Interesting? I wonder if the judge wanted him or if he wanted to save Texas $690,000 incarceration costs? Hey, here is one we could refuse to take back! Oh, no, India would get upset and quit supplying Disney with workers. Sorry, daggone it, Americans have a difficult time winning one in America.

CONVICTED KILLER WHO FLED TO INDIA AMID CORRUPTION SCANDAL TO BE EXTRADITED TO TEXAS
eron County DA's Office

by ILDEFONSO ORTIZ18 Jun 2015

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Indian authorities, along with the Interpol and U.S. authorities, are working at extraditing a convicted murderer who not only became a famous fugitive featured on national television, but also became a symbol of the deep-rooted corruption on the Texas border.

Convicted murderer Amit Livingston was featured on the now defunct America’s Most Wanted TV show following his escape from custody after he pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to 23 years in prison, for the murder of his girlfriend Hermilia Garcia Hernandez in 2007.

Livingston shot and killed Garcia on September 30, 2005, and authorities discovered her body in South Padre Island five days later, information provided to Breitbart Texas by investigators revealed. Just 14 days after finding Garcia’s body, authorities arrested and charged Livingston. Click here to see a complete timeline of the case.

Cameron County DA Luis V. Saenz announces the upcoming extradition of convicted murdered Amit Livingston who had fled to India to avoid justice.

After years on the run, Indian authorities arrested 46-year-old Muddamalle Amit Livingston in May 2014 in the city of Sainikpuri, Hyderabad where he had been living under a false name and using false documents, India’s Deccan Chronicle reported.

According to information provided to Breitbart Texas by the Cameron County District Attorney’s office, Livingston was tried and convicted in Hyderabad in connection with the false identify, on the charge of failing to register as a foreigner, and sentenced to one year in prison. Once the one-year sentence was served, Livingston was transferred to New Delhi, where he is expected to be extradited.

This week, Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz announced that the process was underway to bring Livingston to Texas, where he is expected to serve out the 23 year sentence that he received in 2007 before fleeing.

Cameron County DA Luis V. Saenz walks reporters through the timeline of events in the Livingston case.

Livingston was able to flee in 2007, even after pleading guilty, thanks to the help of former 404th State District Judge and former Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos, who took part in a convoluted scheme in order to be able to split the $500,000 used to secure his release during trial, court records obtained by Breitbart Texas from a massive corruption case in Cameron County revealed.

Limas accepted Livingston’s plea and sentenced him the same day freeing up the bond. Moments after sentencing him Limas, gave Livingston 60 days of freedom in order to get his affairs in order before turning himself in to serve his sentence. As expected, Livingston fled and spent years on the run.

The unusual move by Limas was part of a brokered deal with Villalobos, who was the DA at the time, and attorney Eddie Lucio (not related to the two Texas politicians by the same name), who had been representing the victim’s children in a lawsuit. The two attorneys were able to use the bond money to pay off the lawsuit and split the money from the attorney’s fees.

In 2011 Limas pleaded guilty to a series of federal corruption charges and testified against multiple other attorneys, a scandal that rocked the legal system in Cameron County. The scandal landed former DA Villalobos and multiple attorneys who had been bribing their way through the legal system in prison.

The hunt for Livingston was reignited by Luis V. Saenz, who took office at Cameron County DA in 2013 and began trying to repair the damage left behind by Villalobos. By the time Saenz picked up the case, it had been dormant for five years.

“As many of you know, the Livingston case was at the heart of a corruption scandal, and this extradition will finally close a chapter in Cameron County history,” Melissa Landin with the DA’s office told Breitbart Texas.

http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2015/...ited-to-texas/