Judge in Chicago refuses to halt extradition of Lithuanian ex-lawmaker
A former Lithuanian lawmaker appeared close to fainting in a Chicago federal courtroom Thursday as a judge refused to halt her extradition to her homeland, where she faces charges stemming from her claims about the existence of a ring of influential pedophiles.
Lawyers for 47-year-old Neringa Venckiene said they would immediately appeal the decision to the 7th U.S. District Court of Appeals. That likely means Venckiene won’t be forced on a plane back to Lithuania for at least several weeks.
Venckiene was a central figure in a scandal that gripped and divided Lithuanians before she fled to Chicago in 2013 as prosecutors prepared charges. Also a former judge, Venckiene is viewed by some Lithuanians as a heroine for exposing a seedy criminal network, but others see her as a manipulator who fabricated the pedophilia claims.
The charges she faces in Lithuania include reporting a false crime; disobeying an order to relinquish custody of her 4-year-old niece, whom she alleges was one of the pedophile ring’s victims; and hitting an officer as dozens of police pried the girl from her arms in a raid.
Judge Virginia Kendall said her power to halt or even delay an extradition after the U.S. State Department has already signed off on it — as it has in Venckiene’s case — is limited.
Venckiene says the charges are politically motivated and that shadowy figures she upset with her accusations about a pedophilia ring could kill her if she is returned.
Venckiene had lived in the Chicago suburb of Crystal Lake with her now18-year-old son, Karolis, and worked as a florist. She had documents allowing her to live and work legally in the U.S. but turned herself in in February after learning American authorities were seeking her arrest.