Max Factor heir bounty hunters must return to Mexico
Three bounty hunters who tracked Max Factor heir Andrew Luster to Mexico have been told by a judge to appear in his court each Monday.
Duane “Dog” Chapman, his son Leland and brother Timothy are otherwise at liberty to travel where they want, including the United States, he said.
They tracked fugitive rapist Luster to Puerto Vallarta after he jumped bail and skipped town during his trial in Ventura, California.
“They can do what they want with their free time,” Judge Jose de Jesus Pineda Gutierrez said after being told the Chapmans had returned to Los Angeles.
Pineda last month ordered the three tried on charges of criminal association and deprivation of liberty for their seizure of Luster.
Prosecutors say the bounty hunters had no legal standing in Mexico and should have gone to the police instead of tackling fugitive themselves.
Each of the charges carries a maximum sentence of four years in jail.
The case was to be handed over to a judge in Guadalajara in the coming weeks.
Pineda released the bounty hunters on €1200 bail each on the condition that they sign in at the court in Puerto Vallarta each Monday.
If the defendants do not appear, an arrest warrant could be issued and they could be jailed immediately if they return to Mexico.
Speaking in Beverly Hills, Chapman said he would return to Mexico “soon”.
“We still do not think we broke the law,” he said.
Chapman’s US lawyer, James Blancarte, said he did not expect his client would have to serve more prison time in Mexico.
Authorities briefly detained and charged a television producer and actor who went along with the bounty hunters to record Luster’s capture, but Pineda threw out the charges against them.
Luster was returned to the US where he has started the 124-year sentence he was given in absentia.
A court ruled yesterday that he could not appeal against the sentence because he had absconded during the proceedings against him.
