After months of fighting efforts in local courts to block his extradition, U.S. fugitive Troy Anthony Thomas has been extradited and is due to appear in a New York court Thursday over a 2011 murder he allegedly committed.
In a statement Wednesday, the US Embassy said Thomas will be in the custody of the New York Police Department Wednesday evening and will appear before an American judge in court on Thursday.
Thomas is accused of killing Guyanese Keith Frank, who had moved to Queens at age 12. He was killed shortly before his 21st birthday, leaving behind an eight-month-old daughter.
The New York Police Department suspected that Thomas shot Frank once in the torso at around 4:45 a.m. Dec. 11, 2011. Thomas had fled the U.S. after an arrest warrant was issued for him.
Thomas was nabbed in Guyana on March 15, 2018, at a house in Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara. Police said his arrest followed a three-month long investigation. He had remained in Lusignan prison since then.
Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus on November 30, 2018, ordered Thomas be extradited.
Thomas exhausted any further right to appeal under the Guyanese constitution at midnight on Tuesday, the US Embassy noted.
“Thomas’s extradition reflects over one year of close coordination between the Government of Guyana and the U.S. Embassy,” the statement noted.
In 2018, the U.S. Attorney General and Secretary of State sent an extradition request to the Government of Guyana, which the Embassy served to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Embassy expressed gratitude to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Prison Service, the Minister of Public Security, and the staff at Cheddi Jagan International Airport, for their close cooperation and commitment to justice.
It further stated that extraditions are an important law enforcement tool in fighting transnational criminal organizations.
US Ambassador Sarah Lynch was quoted saying: “The Government of Guyana’s actions over the past year clearly indicate its dedication to law and order and established norms of international criminal justice – Guyana is moving in the right direction.
“Establishing a roadmap for future extraditions, bringing a fugitive to justice, making Guyana a safer place for Guyanese citizens – this is the best example of rule of law existing in Guyana.”
