Cuba expels elderly US fugitive

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A man who fled to Cuba after being convicted of mail fraud in the United States has been expelled from the island after 42 years.

His expulsion from Cuba is highly unusual. Both the US and Cuba accuse each other of harbouring fugitives from each other's justice systems.

Joseph Adjmi, now 70, has returned to the US after spending more than half his life on the run from US justice.

The US and Cuba do not have diplomatic relations, or an extradition treaty.

'Living quietly'

In 1964 Mr Adjmi was convicted in Florida of mail fraud, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. But he failed to turn up to his final court appearance and fled to Cuba.

Mr Adjmi spent several years living quietly in Cuba, until he got on the wrong side of the law here.

Cuban militant Luis Posada Carriles is awaiting trial in the US

In early 2006 a message was sent to American officials at the US Interests Section in Havana that he was in a Cuban prison and would be expelled from the country when he had served his term.

On Wednesday, he was put on a regular charter flight to Miami. He was taken into custody on arrival by agents of the US diplomatic security services.

Several other fugitives from US justice remain in Cuba. They include hijackers and convicted murderers.

The financier Robert Vesco, accused of embezzling $220m by the US securities and exchange commission, is understood to be still in Cuba, although he also fell afoul of the Cuban authorities.

He is currently believed to be under house arrest in Havana.

For its part, Cuba says that the US is harbouring a far more serious fugitive from justice.

The exiled Cuban militant Luis Posada Carriles, whom Cuba accuses of bombing a Cuban airliner in the 1970s, is currently free on bail in Miami awaiting trial on immigration charges.