A Peruvian court will soon issue a decision on whether to allow convicted killer Joran van der Sloot to be extradited to the United States on charges of extortion in the case of Natalee Holloway.
The Dutchman may have far worse charges to fear, however, according to an international defense expert who said the extortion extradition is a ruse.
"With all the bad guys running around -- Al Qaeda and other international terrorists -- do you really think the U.S. is going to go after every guy who tries to extort money from a U.S. citizen? Absolutely not. The U.S. wants to get ahold of him and charge him with Holloway's murder," said Michael Griffith, senior partner at the International Legal Defense Counsel.
A U.S. federal grand jury indicted van der Sloot in June 2010, for soliciting money from Beth Holloway in exchange for information about her daughter, Natalee Holloway. The 18-year-old from Alabama disappeared on a trip to Aruba in 2005.
Holloway's classmates said they last saw her leaving Carlos 'n Charlie's nightclub with van der Sloot, then a 17-year-old Dutch honors student living in Aruba, and his two friends, Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. All three young men were arrested in the case, but then were released and never charged.
The alleged extortion plot began in March 2010, when van der Sloot reportedly agreed to provide Beth Holloway with details on her daughter's death and the location of her body in exchange for $250,000. A Holloway family attorney working with the FBI provided van der Sloot with an initial payment of $10,000 in cash and wired him an additional $15,000. Beth Holloway was to pay the remaining $225,000 upon confirmation of her daughter's remains.
As authorities continued to build their case, van der Sloot used the $25,000 to fund a trip to play in a poker tournament in Peru, where he was arrested for the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores. The Peruvian business student was found stabbed to death in van der Sloot's Lima hotel room on June 2, 2010. Police in Peru say Flores was killed on May 30, the five-year anniversary of Holloway's disappearance.
On Jan. 13, van der Sloot, 24, was sentenced to 28 years in prison for the murder of Stephany Flores. He could be paroled after serving one-third of his sentence.
The process to extradite van der Sloot from Peru began in April, when a Peruvian judge approved a U.S. request for a provisional detention.
On Tuesday, van der Sloot and his attorney appeared in court opposite representatives from the U.S. Embassy and the FBI. During the three-hour proceeding, U.S. officials presented their case against van der Sloot. Afterward, Judge Zenaida Vilca went over the details of the extradition request with the Dutchman. His attorney, Maximo Altez, said his client was against the extradition and said he did not feel he would get a fair trial in the U.S.
"In the United States, they would find him guilty. Over there, Joran is, after Osama bin Laden, the most hated person there is," Altez told AFP.
No decision was made at the close of the hearing. Vilca will make his recommendation to Peru's Supreme Court and if the court approves it, the case will go to the Ministry of Justice in Peru for a final decision.
If extradited and convicted in the U.S., van der Sloot would face a five- to 10-year sentence for the alleged extortion. Under the U.S.-Peru extradition treaty, van der Sloot could be extradited only if he returns to complete his 28-year prison sentence. However, if his client is extradited, Altaz said he doubts van der Sloot would be returned to Peru.
"Once he's in the U.S., there are no guarantees that he would not be charged with Holloway's murder," Altaz told ABC News.
Griffith, a veteran attorney who has counseled and represented clients in more than 40 countries, also doubts van der Sloot would be returned to Peru.
"It would be too much trouble and Peru would be getting rid of a huge public relations problem," Griffith said. "This case has cast a spotlight on their country and their prisons and, of course, they don't like that. They don't want their dirty clothes hung out in front of the press and that's what's been happening."
PHOTOS: JORAN VAN DER SLOOT (Article Continues Below)
Loading Slideshow
Joran van der Sloot
Joran van der Sloot attends the continuation of his murder trial at San Pedro prison in Lima, Peru, on Jan. 11, 2012. Van der Sloot pleaded guilty on Wednesday to the 2010 murder of a 21-year-old Peruvian woman he met at a Lima casino who was killed five years to the day of the unsolved disappearance in Aruba of an American teen in which he remains the main suspect. (Karel Navarro, AP)
Joran van der Sloot
Judges Victoria Montoya, center, Otilia Vargas, left, and Pilar Carbonel speak before the continuation of Joran van der Sloot's trial at San Pedro prison in Lima, Peru, on Jan. 11, 2012. Joran van der Sloot pleaded guilty on Wednesday to the 2010 murder of a 21-year-old Peruvian woman he met at a Lima casino who was killed five years to the day of the unsolved disappearance in Aruba of an American teen in which he remains the main suspect. (Karel Navarro, AP)
Joran van der Sloot
Men protest against Joran van der Sloot outside San Pedro prison where his murder trial is held in Lima, Peru, on Jan. 11, 2012. Van der Sloot pleaded guilty on Wednesday to the 2010 murder of a 21-year-old Peruvian woman he met at a Lima casino who was killed five years to the day of the unsolved disappearance in Aruba of an American teen in which he remains the main suspect. The sign at center reads in Spanish "Dutch assassin." (Karel Navarro, AP)
Joran van der Sloot
Joran van der Sloot, left, enters the courtroom for the continuation of his murder trial at San Pedro prison in Lima, Peru, Jan. 11, 2012. The Dutch citizen pleaded guilty to in the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores on May 30, 2010. (Karel Navarro, AP)
Joran van der Sloot
Police officers escort Joran Van der Sloot, second right, during a press conference at a police station in Lima, on June 5, 2010. The young Dutchman wanted in the murder of a 21-year-old Peruvian woman, and who also remains the lone suspect in the 2005 disappearance of U.S. teen Natalee Holloway, arrived in Peru's capital to face justice, after being handed over by Chilean police at the two countries' border. (Karel Navarro, AP)
Joran van der Sloot
Joran van der Sloot, center, enters the courtroom for the start of his murder trial held at the San Pedro prison in Lima, Peru, on Jan. 6, 2012. Van der Sloot, 24, stands trial Friday for the 2010 murder of the 21-year-old Stephany Flores, of Peru, nearly seven years after he became the prime suspect in the unsolved disappearance of an American teenager on holiday in Aruba. (Karel Navarro, AP)
Joran van der Sloot
Joran van der Sloot, front right, sits in court for the continuation of his murder trial at San Pedro prison in Lima, Peru, Jan. 11, 2012. The Dutch citizen pleaded guilty to in the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores on May 30, 2010. (Karel Navarro, AP)
Joran van der Sloot
Joran van der Sloot sits in the courtroom as he waits for the continuation of his murder trial to start at San Pedro prison in Lima, Peru, Jan. 11, 2012. Van der Sloot pleaded guilty on Wednesday to the 2010 murder of a 21-year-old Peruvian woman he met at a Lima casino who was killed five years to the day of the unsolved disappearance in Aruba of an American teen in which he remains the main suspect. (Karel Navarro, AP)
Joran van der Sloot
Joran van der Sloot was charged with killing and robbing Stephany Flores, a woman he met while gambling at a Peruvian casino. Flores was killed on May 30, 2010 -- exactly five years after Natalee Holloway vanished in Aruba. Van der Sloot has been linked, but never charged to her disappearance. (Domingo al Dia, America Television Channel / AP)
Stephany Flores
Stephany Flores in an undated photo from Peru's National Identitfication Registry. Her dead body was found June 2, 2010 in Joran van der Sloot's hotel room. (Registro Nacional de Identificacion y Estado Civil / AP)
Joran van der Sloot
Ricardo Flores, father of slain Stephany Flores, arrives to San Jorge prison for the trial of Joran Van der Sloot in the Lurigancho area of Lima, Peru, on Jan. 6, 2012. Van der Sloot, 24, stands trial for the 2010 murder of the 21-year-old Flores, of Peru, nearly seven years after he became the prime suspect in the unsolved disappearance of an American teenager on holiday in Aruba. (Karel Navarro, AP)
Joran van der Sloot
This image from security footage provided by the Lima police alledgedly shows Joran van der Sloot, left, and Stephany Flores as they enter his hotel room May 30, 2010. (Lima Police Handout / AP)
Joran van der Sloot
This image from security footage provided by the Lima police alledgedly shows Joran van der Sloot, as he leaves his hotel room May 30, 2010 -- the day Stefany Flores was allegedly killed in his hotel room. (Lima Police Handout / AP)
Joran van der Sloot
A shaman performs a ritual for the spiritual punishment of Joran van der Sloot, whose picture is posted on the wall, before van der Sloot's trial outside San Pedro prison. (Karel Navarro, AP)
Joran van der Sloot
Posters of Joran van der Sloot, right, and Stepahny Flores, left, sit among items from a shaman ritual outside San Pedro prison to punish the Dutchman's spirit. Van der Sloot, 24, is charged with killing 21-year-old Flores in his Lima hotel room on May 30, 2010, after the two left a casino together in the day's wee hours. The poster of Flores reads in Spanish "Stephany Flores asks for justice" and the poster of Van der Sloot reads "Spiritual punishment." (Karel Navarro, AP)
Joran van der Sloot
Chilean authorities escort Joran van der Sloot, center, in Santiago, Chile on June 4, 2010. The Dutch man was detained after crossing the border from Peru, where authorities said he killed Stephany Flores. Van der Sloot was previously arrested in the 2005 disappearance of U.S. teen Natalie Holloway, but later released by Dutch authorities. (Aliosha Marquez, AP)
Joran van der Sloot
Police show a photo of Joran van der Sloot at a news conference in Lima, on June 2, 2010. (AP)
Peruvian Newspapers
A man displays Peruvian newspapers with front pages allusive to the murder of 21-year-old Peruvian Stephany Flores in Lima. (Cris Bouroncle, AFP / Getty Images)
Joran van der Sloot
In this Dec. 7, 2007 photo, Joran van der Sloot, right, sits in a car with his father, Paulus Van Der Sloot, after Joran was released from custody near Oranjestad, Aruba. For all his garrulous charm, Joran van der Sloot didn't do himself any favors in his online interactions, where his generation tends to reveal a lot about itself. (Pedro Famous Diaz, AP)
Joran van der Sloot
In this Sept. 6, 2005 photo, eighteen-year-old Joran van der Sloot, a resident of Aruba who had been held by police on the Caribbean island in connection with the disappearance of American tourist Natalee Holloway, exits Schiphol airport accompanied by unidentified relatives in Amsterdam, Netherlands. For all his garrulous charm, Joran van der Sloot didn't do himself any favors in his online interactions, where his generation tends to reveal a lot about itself. (Peter Dejong, AP)
Joran van der Sloot
Joran van der Sloot, center, the Dutch teen detained in connection with the disappearance of Alabama high school graduate Natalee Holloway on May 30, arrives to the hospital for DNA tests in Oranjestad, Aruba, on July 20, 2005. Investigators said that they planned to conduct DNA tests on blond hair attached to duct tape that was found along the coast to see if it came from Holloway - in a possible break to the six-week-old mystery. (Dino Tromp, AP)
Natalee Holloway
An undated photo of Natalee Holloway that was released by her family after her disappearance. (Family Photo / AP)
Joran van der Sloot
Joran van der Sloot, 20, takes a walk to the local supermarket near the house of his parents in Oranjestad, Aruba, in Dec. 2007. (Raul Henriquez, AFP/Getty Images)
Joran van der Sloot looks over his shoulder as he leaves the courtroom after his murder trial was postponed at the San Jorge prison in Lima, Peru, Friday, Jan. 6, 2012. Dutch citizen Joran van der Sloot asked for more time Friday to decide how to plead in his trial for the 2010 murder of a 21-year-old Peruvian woman. His case was postponed until Jan. 11.
Joran van der Sloot
Joran van der Sloot looks back from his seat after entering the courtroom for the continuation of his murder trial at San Pedro prison in Lima, Peru, on Jan. 11, 2012. The Dutch citizen pleaded guilty to in the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores on May 30, 2010. (Karel Navarro, AP)
Joran van der Sloot
People protest against Joran van der Sloot as they hold up an enlarged picture of his police mug shot outside San Pedro prison where his murder trial is held in Lima, Peru, on Jan. 11, 2012. Van der Sloot pleaded guilty on Wednesday to the 2010 murder of a 21-year-old Peruvian woman he met at a Lima casino who was killed five years to the day of the unsolved disappearance in Aruba of an American teen in which he remains the main suspect. (Karel Navarro, AP)
Joran van der Sloot
Joran van der Sloot arrives to the courtroom for his sentence at San Pedro prison in Lima, Peru, on Jan. 13, 2012. Van der Sloot will be sentenced Friday for the 2010 murder of Stephany Flores, a young woman he met at a Lima casino. Prosecutors have asked for a 30-year sentence for first-degree murder and theft. (Karel Navarro, AP)
Joran van der Sloot
Joran van der Sloot sits in the courtroom before his sentencing at San Pedro prison in Lima, Peru, on Jan. 13, 2012. Van der Sloot will be sentenced Friday for the 2010 murder of Stephany Flores, a young woman he met at a Lima casino. Prosecutors have asked for a 30-year sentence for first-degree murder and theft. (Karel Navarro, AP)
Joran van der Sloot
Members of the media take pictures of Joran van der Sloot, right, sitting in the courtroom at San Pedro prison in Lima, Peru, on Jan. 13, 2012. Van der Sloot will be sentenced Friday for the 2010 murder of Stephany Flores, a young woman he met at a Lima casino. Prosecutors have asked for a 30-year sentence for first-degree murder and theft. (Karel Navarro, AP)
Griffith said it is also likely that Ricardo Flores, father of Stephany Flores and a respected businessman who once ran for president, would likely support van der Sloot's possible incarceration in the U.S.
"Van der Sloot is living like a king in that foreign prison," Griffith said. "In the States, they would probably put him in a supermax prison, where he would be on lockdown 23 hours a day."
Griffin could be right about Ricardo Flores. In January, Flores complained to reporters that van der Sloot was enjoying favorable conditions in a Lima prison. "A jail isn't a five-star hotel," Flores said.
In regard to Holloway, Altaz told ABC News, "no such evidence exists" connecting his client to Holloway's murder.
Van der Sloot has, however, allegedly made multiple confessions in the case that may come back to haunt him:
In June 2005, he told police that he and Deepak and Satish Kalpoe went for a car ride with Holloway and then dropped her off at her hotel, where they last saw her stumbling toward the lobby.
Roughly five days later, van der Sloot gave a slightly different version to police, claiming he and Holloway had gone to a beach, but that she had insisted on being left there when he decided to catch a ride home.
In February 2006, a Dutch television station aired a hidden-camera confession that van der Sloot had made, claiming Holloway had died of a drug overdose at the beach and that he and a friend had dumped her body at sea. Following the broadcast, van der Sloot acknowledged making the comments, but said they were lies.
In November 2008, van der Sloot told Fox News host Greta Van Susteren that he had sold Holloway for $10,000 to a man he met in a casino. After the interview, van der Sloot called Fox and said he had been lying.
In March 2010, yet another statement by van der Sloot to the media was made public. In a 2009 interview with the German news agency RTL, van der Sloot said Holloway "fell" from a balcony and was killed. He hid Holloway's body in a swamp because he was afraid of being prosecuted, according to reports of the interview, which never aired.
While the confessions alone might not be enough, Griffith said authorities in the U.S. could target the Kalpoe brothers -- even though neither is considered a suspect or person of interest in the case.
"They could put pressure on them -- say to their lawyers, 'we want to serve you with a subpoena and we want their cooperation and we'll give them immunity from any charges. If you don't, we'll give their names to Interpol and have them added to the stop list.'"
Griffith added, "They could be the weak link in the chain. They were with him that night."
According to Peruvian media outlets, a decision on the indictment could take several weeks.
A Peruvian court will soon issue a decision on whether to allow convicted killer Joran van der Sloot to be extradited to the United States on charges of extortion in the case of Natalee Holloway.
...
A Peruvian court will soon issue a decision on whether to allow convicted killer Joran van der Sloot to be extradited to the United States on charges of extortion in the case of Natalee Holloway.
...
MEXICO CITY -- Authorities in Mexico's Gulf coast state of Campeche said Wednesday they are investigating how a porn video was made by sixth-graders inside...
TRENTON, N.J. -- A New Jersey woman admitted Wednesday to sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl she was allegedly babysitting and putting a video of the...
INDIANAPOLIS -- A 14-year-old Indianapolis girl has been charged as an adult in the fatal stabbing of her 4-year-old cousin. Brienne Delaney, spokeswoman for the...
A haggard and beaten-looking Joran van der Sloot was sentenced Friday to 28 years in prison for the 2010 slaying of Peruvian business student Stephany...
An Alabama judge has signed a declaration of death for missing teen Natalee Holloway, last seen almost seven years ago vacationing in Aruba. Probate Judge...
If he gets extradited, and then charged with the murder in a different country makes many American soldiers open to murder charges abroad. In my opinion several high US officials should be tried for murder anyway. Bush to start with. And if the US does not extradite, then start economic bans on everything American. It is what the US does!
Mexiconees: If he gets extradited, and then charged with the murder
Joran is not even fit to be called human. He is a sick, twisted animal that even his mother had to abandon. First he kills Natalee (yes, he did it!) and probably took her body apart, piece by piece making it unfindable. He then, with no remorse, calls her mother and asks for $250,000 in return she will be told everything about Natalee. Once he is given $25,000, he flies to Peru to play in a poker tournament! He busts out in the game, takes Stephany up to his room and kills her. He then goes for coffee, comes back with two cups (maybe he felt bad he killed her so he brought her a cup of java?), then splits. He is arrested and this is where it remains. One Sick, Twisted Animal who wants to come to the US because our laws are so weak he feels he can get his freedom. IMO, if he is extradicted, he should be met by the bullet of .45 right between the eyes, and poof...one more creep is off the planet. As for the other sickie who wants to marry him, I cannot help but wonder what you hate most about yourself to consider something so despictable? He is cruel, has no soul and a black heart. What could he possibly give you, that you cannot get on the street and make a few bucks at the bargain?
Linda_Lieber: Joran is not even fit to be called human. He
He should be allowed to come to the US and stand trial. Once convicted, he should be sent to Guantanamo Bay and held with terrorists. American prision's are far better then that of in Peru and he could actually be looking forward to the extradition.
skytracker: He should be allowed to come to the US and
Fine, the signatured names match perfectly in first names and the non-signatured name is the Jessie James, games, games, Jessie James, fame, claim, anyway, looking into one crime probably caused another and his dad is most likely right. That's why their all "kind of famous" right?!?!
Child_Labor: Fine, the signatured names match perfectly in first names and
this young man needs be tried for murder no questions to be ask................................
send him back to us so we can give him his day in the chair or what ever will remove him from out society........
marieevaughn: this young man needs be tried for murder no questions
Probably, but from the article he has even changed that story several times. It proves that he is a liar, that's for sure. He looks pretty guilty to me, but I'm basing that on his other behaviour, and that fact that he murdered the Flores girl. He really is too famous to be able to get an impartial trial. They will have a hard time compiling a jury for this.
Giggie: Probably, but from the article he has even changed that
I say let him rot in Peru. There's no body...how are they going to prove murder? Why should my tax dollars pay to board him in a US prison? Let him serve his sentence in Peru and then extradite him. But the idiot prosecutors will probably end up letting him get off on some technicality. Natalee Hollaway shouldn't have been whoring around on vacation with strange men. It's a lesson that all young women must learn.
mokachyna: I say let him rot in Peru. There's no body...how
There's no proof that he did anything to Natalee. There's proof that he killed Stephanie Flores in Peru. So let him rot there. Natalee was a young girl who didn't know how to protect herself while on vacation. Let that be a lesson to other young American women who live very sheltered lives and believe that being white and American in protection enough. Why was she alone with a stranger in Aruba? Where were her friends? I've traveled around the world and I would never go off alone with a stranger like that. God forbid we call her actions into question.
mokachyna: There's no proof that he did anything to Natalee. There's
Let's get him over on our turf. Charge him with murder and extortion. Just in case the murder charge doesn't pan out we can definitely get him for the extortion.
Kristen_Michele: Let's get him over on our turf. Charge him with
"We let' Casey Anthony "get off" Who is this we? All of the armchair detectives who had the woman convicted before she even went to trial? The evidence did not support the charges. The jury said not guilty - end of story.
cybersleuth58: "We let' Casey Anthony "get off" Who is this we?
Loading comments… 
Posted: 05/09/2012 5:10 pm Updated: 05/10/2012 9:47 am