A man convicted of sexual offences involving a minor in Arizona has been arrested in Newfoundland, after being on the run for more than a decade.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirmed in a statement that they arrested Robert Andrew Land in Carbonear on Friday.
Earlier that day, Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court Chief Justice Raymond Whalen issued an arrest warrant for the 62-year-old Land, pursuant to the Extradition Act.
According to the RCMP, the U.S. Marshals had made a request to Canadian authorities for Land’s arrest.
The Mounties say that Land is wanted in the United States for violating probation conditions in relation to his conviction on sexual offences involving a minor.
According to a notice posted online by the U.S. Marshals, Land had been a fugitive since 2013.
The U.S. Marshals declined comment when contacted by CBC News on Tuesday morning, saying it’s their policy not to discuss fugitive extraditions, deportations or removals until they’ve been completed.
Land briefly appeared at provincial court in Harbour Grace on Tuesday afternoon.
Land told the court he plans to represent himself.
The matter is being moved to Supreme Court in St. John’s for a hearing Wednesday afternoon.
According to a criminal court case history posted on the Maricopa County Superior Court website, Land was charged with a series of sexual offences in 2004.
A year later, he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual conduct with a minor and one count of sexual abuse. A half-dozen other charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal.
That case history does not provide details of his sentence. CBC News has requested that information from court officials.
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