Judge denies bail to ex-Peruvian president
A former Peruvian president wanted in the South American country on corruption charges will remain in detention in the Bay Area while authorities determine whether he will be extradited.
During a court hearing Friday, Judge Thomas S. Hixson ordered that Alejandro Toledo Manrique, 74, not be released pending a hearing on his extradition to Peru, ruling that the former head of state is a flight risk.
“If the defendant were to flee, this would be a diplomatically significant failure of the United States to live up to its obligations to Peru,” Hixson said. When FBI officials searched Toledo’s home this week, they found $40,000 in cash in a suitcase, Hixson said.
Toledo is being held in Alameda County’s Santa Rita jail, according to jail records. Authorities will examine the 2001 U.S. extradition treaty with Peru to determine whether Toledo should be surrendered.
During Friday’s hearing, he appeared in court in red jail garb, his hands uncuffed behind his back. Toledo did not address the court. His attorney, Joseph Russoniello, argued that the Los Altos resident should be released because of his principled character.
“What he had to endure in terms of personal threats to him and to his family in order to obtain the position of president ... you get some measure of why this gentleman is not just a person but an extraordinary person,” Russoniello said.
U.S. attorney Elise LaPunzina asserted that Toledo has few connections to the Bay Area, several personal and political connections in other countries and assets that could fund a decision to flee.
“He has not traveled internationally since the issuance of that arrest warrant. The government argues he hasn’t traveled because he has known there’s a warrant for him and he does not want to return to Peru,” LaPunzina said. “He has every incentive to leave America and go elsewhere where he’s not going to be forced to return to Peru.”
Toledo was arrested Tuesday after Peruvian officials requested his extradition to face charges of collusion, money laundering and influence peddling. He is accused of taking $20 million in bribes from a Brazilian construction company in exchange for infrastructure contracts during his presidency between 2001 and 2006. Peruvian authorities issued an arrest warrant for Toledo in February 2017.
Toledo was also arrested in March on suspicion of public intoxication while at a restaurant in Menlo Park. No charges were filed and he was released the next day.