PROSECUTORS in Stamford Connecticut, yesterday moved to revoke the $1 million bail bond of a rape suspect after learning that he had been granted Irish citizenship.
Mr Alex Kelly (29) received citizenship last week after applying through the Irish Consulate General, his lawyer, Mr Thomas Puccio, said.
The prosecutor, Mr Bruce Hudock, said the citizenship increased the risk of Mr Kelly, a onetime fugitive, fleeing again.
A hearing on his request to evoke the bond has been set for Tuesday. "In light of the continuing prosecutions, and eight years flight, this conduct is simply outrageous," Mr Hudock said.
Mr Kelly was a high school wrestling star when he was arrested on rape charges. Just before his trial was to begin in 1987 he fled overseas and authorities said his wealthy parents enabled him to live as a "ski bum" until he surrendered in Switzerland in 1995.
Mr Kelly's first trial ended in November when the six member jury was unable to reach a verdict. He is to be retried in April.
Mr Kelly's parents and younger brother have Irish citizenship, his lawyer, Mr Puccio said. His client had sought Irish citizenship with the expectation of employment in Europe after his criminal cases were resolved. He had no intention of applying for the passport now, Mr Puccio added.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Irish Consulate in New York confirmed that Mr Kelly was granted Irish citizenship this week.
The law governing citizenship, the Nationality and Citizenship Act of 1956, grants citizenship as long as a person can provide the necessary documentation to prove that his or her grandparents were Irish citizens.
However, the spokesman explained that citizenship would not automatically entitle Mr Kelly to a passport. The practice in the Irish Embassy and at consular offices in the US is that a person must provide a US passport as well as the necessary citizenship papers to obtain such a document. Mr Kelly's passport had been confiscated by the US authorities.
The spokesman added that if the US authorities were to inform Irish officials that a condition of a person's bail was that he could not leave the jurisdiction, Ireland would not grant him a passport.