Ali AbdiBurlington, Vermont - February 26, 2009
A Burlington man was back in court Thursday facing new charges for fleeing while he was on trial for sex assault on a child.
Ali Abdi, 34, was back in a Burlington courtroom less than a month after he fled while on trial for sex assaults on a 9-year-old girl.
Federal agents captured the Somali immigrant in Michigan two weeks ago.
He now faces a possible life sentence for the sex crime plus two more years for taking off during trial. Prosecutors are also seeking seizure of Abdi's $25,000 bail that was put up by a New Jersey bonding firm.
Chittenden County Prosecutor T.J. Donovan said, "The purpose of somebody that puts up bail... is that they are effectively saying to the court and to the community that we'll take responsibility for this person and we will guarantee his appearance in court. Obviously that didn't occur because Mr. Abdi fled. So that's why we're moving to forfeit the bail."
A spokesman for the bail insurer says his company should not forfeit the $25,000 because they provided key information that led to Abdi's capture and they paid all expenses to get him returned from Michigan.
A judge will decide the bail issue this week.
Brian Joyce - WCAX News
