US fugitive held in Jamaica extradited
A man who fled the United States just over 20 years ago after pleading guilty to vehicular homicide and was hiding in Jamaica has been extradited to Miami, a release dated February 5 from Florida State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said.
Rundle did not say exactly when convicted fugitive Christopher Harvey was extradited, only that after US authorities received a tip in 2019 that he was in Jamaica, a request for his extradition was submitted, “he was taken into custody by the Jamaican authorities and has now been returned to Miami”.
Rundle said Harvey was originally arrested on January 31, 1999 and charged with three counts of vehicular homicide and one count of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, after an automobile crash at the intersection of Northwest 199th Street and Northwest 37th Avenue in Miami-dade County in the early hours of January 30.
“The collision killed 24-year-old
Daylin Bueno, a mother of two; 37year-old Becky Ballestas Marquez, also a mother of two children; and 24-yearold Maria Arandaans, a college student in town to visit her grandmother,” the Florida state attorney said.
“The women were returning home from a gathering when Harvey, travelling westbound at an estimated speed of 75 mph on Northwest 199th Street, failed to stop at a red flashing light and crossed Northwest 37th Avenue, colliding with the women’s late-model Honda Civic travelling southbound on Northwest 37th Avenue. After the accident, Harvey fled the scene without attempting to render aid to the victims,” the state attorney added.
She said on March 27, 2000, Harvey entered a plea of no contest to all charges. The criminal court found him guilty and sentenced him to 12 ½ years in prison. At his lawyer’s request, the court gave Harvey until June 1, 2000 to get his affairs in order, at which point he was to turn himself in to begin serving his sentence. Instead, Harvey fled the country.
“In 2007, a tip was received that Harvey was possibly in custody in Cuba. However, a lack of formal relations between Cuba and the United States made extradition nearly impossible,” she said.
“The families of these three women killed by Christopher Harvey were revictimised when he fled the country in 2000. Mr Harvey admitted his guilt in criminal court but ran away from his personal responsibility for these crimes, just as he ran away on the night of this dreadful incident 22 years ago,” Rundle said.
“Thanks to the resolute efforts and commitment of my prosecutors and staff in the Extradition Section of my Legal Unit, and the commitment of the US Marshals Services Fugitive Task Force, the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, the Jamaica Constabulary Force, Jamaica Fugitive Apprehension Team, and
Homeland Security Investigations, Christopher Harvey will now see the justice he so long sought to avoid. Today is certainly a day these victimised families have long waited to see,” Rundle added.
Vaughn Ary, director of the US Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs (OIA) extended thanks to “Jamaica for its critical assistance on this case”.
The OIA, he said, “is dedicated to the mission of ensuring that fugitives who flee overseas are apprehended and are returned to face justice. Working with our foreign law enforcement counterparts, the Miami State Attorney’s Office, and US law enforcement agencies, OIA was able to help facilitate the return of Christopher Harvey after 20 years — showing again that, regardless of the passage of time, OIA will not rest in its efforts to advance public safety both for our citizens, and for citizens in countries around the world”.