BOSTON (AP) — A Guatemalan man wanted for allegedly committing atrocities in his homeland during the 1980s will be extradited after serving a prison sentence for illegal reentry into the U.S.
Francisco Cuxum Alvarado was sentenced to six months in federal prison on Friday after pleading guilty to the charge in September.
Prosecutors say Cuxum Alvarado will be subject to extradition to Guatemala to face prosecution for his alleged crimes after serving the sentence. He’s been in federal custody since his indictment in May and will be given credit for time served.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said the case in Boston federal court showed that America won’t serve as a “safe haven” for individuals facing prosecution abroad.
The 64-year-old was found in Waltham, Massachusetts, in April working as a landscaper. Prosecutors say he’d been removed from the country in 2004 after he was found living in the country illegally.
They say Cuxum Alvarado admitted he was a member of a civil militia that helped government forces violently remove, rape and massacre Maya Achi people from the Rio Negro area in Guatemala.
Lelling’s office says the Guatemalan government charged him last year with crimes against humanity for participating in the mass sexual assault of Maya Achi women.
The Central American nation alerted law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and arrest him.
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