USA v. Karen Starr: An Excruciating Lesson On What Can Happen If You’re Arrested On A Red Notice In A Country Without An Extradition Agreement

Here’s an interesting order in a case involving a woman, living in the UAE who, unbeknownst to her, was federally indicted in the US.  Our government issued a Red Notice against her which led to her arrest in a country that does not recognize mutual extradition obligations.  This, my friends, is a nightmare and shows how complicated transnational criminal defense practice can be.  Here are the facts:

A federal grand jury indicted Karen Starr and Keelan Harris on August 20, 2013, for Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, Wire Fraud, and Money Laundering. The FBI and the government made efforts to locate Starr, including sending a fugitive letter, issuing a Red Notice through Interpol in January 2014, and the FBI Agent Hayes coordinating with international units. Starr was subsequently arrested by the UAE on September 7, 2015!!!  Starr was formally notified of the Red Notice a year later by Interpol in September 2016 after she made a specific request to obtain that information. She did not receive a copy of the indictment until October 2016.  Starr claims that an extradition request was dismissed by the UAE in September 2019 due to no response from the U.S. government, but the US government disputes that and says no extradition request was made since there is no treaty with the UAE.  She has not been able to voluntarily travel back to the United States because of the Red Notice. She then hired defense counsel in August 2022, who has repeatedly tried to coordinate her voluntary surrender with U.S. authorities. Despite numerous attempts by defense counsel from January to June 2023, no resolution was reached regarding her return to the U.S.  The prosecutors have had to coordinate with Office of International Affairs given the complexity of the case—Starr is a Canadian citizen, now under arrest in UAE, with an indictment in the United States. 

Her lawyer properly made a motion to dismiss the indictment as a violation of her Speedy Trial rights.  Magistrate Judge Christopher Boyko of the Northern District of Ohio denied that request on August 5, 2024 in part because she failed to “timely assert” her speedy trial rights.  I think the lesson here is that, if you’re arrested overseas on a US warrant, you should be thinking ahead as to these issues.  This is an extraordinary nightmare for Ms. Starr.  It’s not completely clear, but it appears she has been detained in UAE custody, “in deplorable conditions”, since her September 2015 arrest.  Best of luck to her and her attorneys as they work out this mess.