American Fugitive On The Lam For 14 Years Arrested In Thailand

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Former Fairbanksan arrested in Thailand

by Chris Freiberg

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

USA

4 hrs 56 mins ago

FAIRBANKS — A former Fairbanks man who has been on the lam for nearly 15 years will soon return to the state to be sentenced for drug charges.

Claude Lavallee, 59, was convicted in January 1996 of providing marijuana to two teenagers doing carpentry work for him. He was acquitted of one count of child pornography distribution.

As a first time felony offender, he could have been sentenced to between zero and four years in prison at the time, but he fled the state before his sentencing that May. A $50,000 warrant was issued for his arrest at that time, but he apparently was able to live openly abroad until he was picked up on the warrant late last month in Thailand.

At his trial, Lavallee, a piano tuner and bed and breakfast owner, testified that he cut three of his fingers off several years earlier, which kept him from doing much carpentry work and caused him to hire the teens. He said he knew the youngsters smoked marijuana but denied providing it to them, according to court records.

When one of the boys came to Lavallee with questions about his sexuality, Lavallee said he gave the teen a gay porn video but did not force him to watch it. Prosecutors were unable to prove the actors in the video were under the age of consent.

Lavallee’s attorney at the time, Dick Madson, retired several years ago. Madson said he had little recollection of the case and no one has contacted him about Lavallee’s recent arrest.

Lavallee wrote on an online resume that he left Alaska in 1995 to raise his three grandsons in the Netherlands.

He taught English while there and also sold pianos and owned a hotel, according to the resume. He also has taught English in China and Thailand.

Fairbanks District Attorney Mike Gray said he does not know when Lavallee will be sent back to Alaska, but probation officials will put together a new presentence report to determine what other activities Lavallee has been involved in since leaving the state.

http://newsminer.com/view/full_story/65781...ndow_left_top_2

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The captured fugitive's website

Claude Lavallee

Online Resume' and Qualifications:

http://www.experienceamsterdam.com/Resume%...ifications.html

[Jingthing]

I'll be the first to say it. This man is not a real criminal. Why not let sleeping expats lie?

[TheWalkingMan]

Surely there are bigger fish to fry than this minnow.

TheWalkingMan

[Jingthing]

Not even a minnow. A plankton, more like. BTW, marijuana is legal in Alaska.

[Chonburiram]

And I've always thought, smoking ganja in Alaska isn't illegal

[TheLaughingMan]

Ya something bizarre about this whole story, feel like I only got 1/3 of it and his real dastardly crimes are yet to surface?

[Jingthing]

Ya something bizarre about this whole story, feel like I only got 1/3 of it and his real dastardly crimes are yet to surface?

I doubt it. Technically the big crime here was skipping the sentencing event. That is actually kind of serious, but what he was convicted of wasn't. Somehow it was a felony. That's crazy. Sometimes the law is crazy.

[Ulysses G.]

Why screw someone for ganja?

Edited March 5, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[Jingthing]

Maybe Sarah Palin saw Thailand from her veranda. Think of the bright side. Mooseburgers.

[surangw]

Surely there are bigger fish to fry than this minnow.

TheWalkingMan

they ( law enforcement) can't get the really bad guys, so they take what they can get to look good ( keep their jobs)

[TheLaughingMan]

Seems like a huge waste of time and money to pursue this guy though? Surely real criminals are a higher priority?

[sawadeeken]

WIERD, that after this long they would persue a petty thing such as this.......................

[flying]

Wonder how he managed a passport for that long...if he did at all?

10yr max on passport life AFAIK