BOUNTY HUNTERS FACE CHARGES IN LUSTER CAPTURE.

Byline: Rachel Uranga and Grace Lee Staff Writers

Celebrity bounty hunter Duane ``Dog'' Chapman and four of his associates are being charged in their snatching of fugitive rapist and Max Factor heir Andrew Luster from a Puerto Vallarta street corner earlier this week, Mexican officials confirmed Friday.

The charges of criminal association and illegal detainment carry a combined four-year maximum sentence if the five are convicted, said officials in Mexico, where bounty hunting is illegal.

``They committed a crime in Mexico,'' said prosecutor Marco Roberto Juarez Gonzalez. ``It's against the law.''

Luster, a Ventura County man who had been on the run five months, was returned to California on Thursday to begin serving a 124-year prison term for drugging and raping three women and videotaping the encounters.

Beth Smith, Chapman's wife and partner in a Honolulu-based bail bond firm, sobbed on hearing of the charges being brought against her husband, stepson, brother-in-law and others.

``There are five families depending on these men,'' said Smith, who has five children at home, including a 2-, 4- and 8-year-old. ``We need our men back.''

``We worked for (Luster's victims) for six months,'' she said. ``It was for them.''

Barry Novoack, attorney for one of Luster's victims identified only as Shawna Doe, said it was disturbing and ironic that the men who hunted down her predator are facing criminal charges.

``The bounty hunter who raised awareness - and caught him- is now sitting in a Mexican jail while Luster is sitting in the United States, perhaps in better conditions.''

Luster is at Wasco State Prison, where he could be assigned to a maximum-security facility because of his flight, a prison authority said.

Roger Diamond, Luster's attorney, filed a petition Friday morning asking the state Supreme Court to clear the way for an appeal. The petition, he was told, was premature, but Diamond said he plans to refile at a later date.

Mexican authorities said the bounty hunters overstepped their bounds when they Maced, handcuffed and abducted the convicted rapist.

The five and Luster were taken into custody by Mexican authorities on their way to the airport, where they hoped to board a plane to the United States, said Sebastian Zavala, a spokesman for the local police.

Chapman, 50, along with his 25-year-old son, Leland Chapman; his brother, Timonthy Chapman, 38; his agent, Boris Krutonog; and cameraman Jeff Sells remained in a Puerto Vallarta jail Friday.

The five men are set to appear before a judge within three days for bail to be set, officials in Mexico said.

Under Mexican law, the five cannot be prosecuted for kidnapping since they did not demand ransom money.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Bosley said federal authorities are continuing their investigation into Luster's Jan. 3 escape during a weekend recess in his trial and are probing how he lived on the run. They are asking the cooperation of Mexican officials.

But Oscar Lopez, a manager at Motel Los Angeles, where Luster stayed in the days before his capture, said neither Mexican nor American law enforcement officers have seized Luster's belongings, including a video camera and videos that remain in his room.

Ventura County Deputy District Attorney Maeve Fox said she hoped Mexican officials would consider the fact that Chapman and his associates had captured a convicted rapist.

Fox, who helped convict Luster on 86 of 87 criminal counts, including rape, poisoning and sodomy, described Luster to the jury as an ``arrogant pig'' who felt entitled to prey upon unsuspecting victims.

Rachel Uranga, [phone]

rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com