Uzbek terror suspect must stay in Aurora detention

Federal appeals court will hear arguments on Muhtorov release

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver has barred the release of an Uzbek immigrant accused of aiding the Islamic Jihad Union pending the outcome of a formal appeal of a judge’s earlier order to release him on bond.

The appeals court granted the stay after the U.S. Attorney’s Office sought an emergency order staying the pretrial release of Jamshid Muhtorov. The defendant will remain at the GEO Aurora Detention Center.

On June 23, U.S. District Senior Judge John Kane or- dered Muhtorov’s release with an ankle monitor on a $20,000 bond pending his trial.

To justify the stay, prosecutors had to make a strong argument that their appeal would succeed and show that holding Muhtorov was in the best interest of the public.

Prosecutors cited five cases in which Colorado offenders easily cut their ankle monitors, fled and committed additional crimes. One of them is the 2013 case of parolee Evan Ebel, who cut his ankle monitor, before killing Nathan Leon and Colorado prisons chief Tom Clements.

“Home confinement and GPS-monitoring will not stop a defendant from fleeing the jurisdiction or harming others if that is his intent,” according to the brief written by Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Bishop Grewell.

Muhtorov’s attorneys argued that his family lives in Colorado and it is unlikely he will flee. They also claim federal officials overstated their case against Muhtorov because of translation mistakes.

Muhtorov filed a motion in June asking the court to dismiss the case against him because his Constitutional right to a speedy trial has been violated since he has been held for 5K years without trial. Earlier this year, his trial was rescheduled for March 2018.