You may not remember the name Robert Hertular. He was extradited from Belize in 2004 to face trial in the US where he was found guilty in 2006 for threatening to kill DEA agents stationed in Belize, and conspiracy to import tonnes of cocaine into the United States.
Since then, he's been serving a 33 year sentence in a federal prison but he says he was wrongly convicted. Hertular claims that during COVID his legal research turned up that the federal indictment for him didn't exist. He says that was later confirmed by the court itself.
So, while he's filed a writ to make that challenge in the US courts, he says it is the duty of the government of Belize to bring him back home - because one of its citizens has been wrongly imprisoned on what he says is a false indictment. Here's what he told Jules Vasquez via phone from the Yazoo City Federal Prison in Mississippi:
Voice of: Robert Hertular, Via Phone From: FCI YAZOO LOW II
"The indictment does not exist. In other words, the indictment is not real."
"It is not a part of the record in the case, and it never obtained through the grand jury process. So basically, the indictment was fabricated by either the Drug Enforcement Administration or somebody in the United States Office for the Southern District of New York."
"What I'm saying, in essence, is that the indictment which was presented to both the government of Belize and myself in 2004 (inaudible) convicted and incarcerated does not exist anymore, is not a part of the record that is not available."
Jules Vasquez
"So what does that mean to you?"
Robert Hertular, Via Phone From: FCI YAZOO LOW II
"It means that I was kidnapped from Belize. I was kidnaped, and that the United States government uttered on false documents to the Belizean government and to myself to have me extradited. The invoked the extradition treaty based on bogus documents. There was never any indictment for me in the Southern District of New York."
"Well, when I wrote to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, they tried to misinterpret what I was saying by saying that I was disputing the extradition process which took place in Belize. Now, they should know, right, that as the government of Belize, they have a judicial responsibility to make sure, right, that I was being tried for what I got extradited for."
"I was proving to them and showing to them that there is no indictment for me, and that the indictment which was presented to both the government and myself, is a false document."
Jules Vasquez
"You have been in prison for over 20 years. 22 years,I think. Do you feel that you're wrongly incarcerated?"
Robert Hertular, Via Phone From: FCI YAZOO LOW II
"I don't feel I know, I know that I'm wrongfully incarcerated."
Jules Vasquez
"But you realize that everybody in prison believes they are wrongfully incarcerated."
Robert Hertular, Via Phone From: FCI YAZOO LOW II
"This is. This is why I'm not relying on what I'm saying. I'm relying on the documents presented to both the government and the courts here."
Jules Vasquez
"But but you must be misguided. There is no way they could have sent you to prison for 33 years without an indictment. You must be deceived."
Robert Hertular, Via Phone From: FCI YAZOO LOW II
"Jules, to refute what I'm saying is, is that all you need to do is produce a certified copy of the indictment."
Hertular is waiting on a court date for his writ of habeas corpus in the US.
