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HomeCosta RicaMichigan fugitive John Saatio to be extradited Saturday

Michigan fugitive John Saatio to be extradited Saturday

After escaping from authorities on two separate occasions, U.S. fugitive John Wesley Saatio won’t have a third chance to run free in Costa Rica.

Costa Rican Security Minister Gustavo Mata announced that Saatio will be extradited Saturday when authorities will put him on a commercial flight out of Juan Santamaría International Airport accompanied by U.S. Marshals.

Saatio was recaptured Tuesday in Desamparados, south of San José, after escaping through a ventilation duct in the immigration detention center in Hatillo where he had been held since June 3.

The 35-year-old fugitive from Michigan was initially aprehended by police in the popular Central Pacific beach town of Jacó earlier this month on an order from Interpol. Saatio faces a lengthy prison sentence in the U.S. for charges of home invasion, destruction of police property, and violating probation.

He escaped last year while police were transporting him to jail after his arraignment in Houghton, Michigan.

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