A US man has been charged with fleeing to Ireland to avoid imprisonment for crimes associated with the January 6th attacks of the US Capitol building in 2021.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based Paul E Kovacik (54) pleaded guilty to charges of entering and remaining in a restricted building, disorderly or disruptive conduct in such a building, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
He was sentenced to three months imprisonment with a further three-year period of probation.
After some legal wrangling over the date on which he would surrender himself to the Chicago Bureau of Prisons, a date of November 1st, 2023 was agreed.
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However Kovacik did not surrender himself to the Bureau of Prisons but fled to Dublin via Munich, Germany.
According to court documents submitted by a deputy US Marshall Kovacik claimed to be in Ireland seeking asylum and international protection.
In an application for a new arrest warrant, the US Marshall said in an interview Kovacik revealed he had decided not to continue with his claim for asylum and cancelled his application before returning to the United States voluntarily because he felt “homesick.”
He left Ireland on June 19th.
However on his return to the US, Kovacik was immediately detained on arrival in Minneapolis and transferred to Hennepin County Jail where he is understood to have told police he was a political prisoner.
He was transferred to a federal prison in Chicago to serve his original sentence for activities relating to the Capitol Hill attacks.
His expected release date is early September.
However his jail time could now be extended as he faces charges relating to fleeing to Ireland.
According to court papers dated July 23rd 2024 US Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey, is considering the US Marshall’s case of “probable cause” to believe that
Kovacik violated statutes which make it a crime to fail to surrender for service of a sentence pursuant to a court order.
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