D.A.: MEXICO HARBORS FELONS COOLEY URGES AMERICANS TO DEMAND RETURN OF MURDER SUSPECTS.

Byline: Mike Sprague Staff Writer

SANTA FE SPRINGS - Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley lashed out at the Mexican government's extradition policies Friday, accusing officials there of breaking the treaty that allows Mexico to send fugitives back to the United States for trial.

Speaking at a meeting of the Southeast chapter of the Lincoln Clubs of Los Angeles County, Cooley said Mexico has refused to extradite wanted suspects to the United States without a guarantee from U.S. officials that the suspect will not be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.

The current extradition treaty between the two countries allows Mexico to refuse to return suspects wanted in the United States if there is a possibility that those suspects could be sentenced to death if convicted.

Mexico has no death penalty; its maximum sentence is 50 years in prison.

Cooley said Mexico has gone beyond the treaty's death-penalty provision by refusing to send back suspects who might receive a life sentence if convicted.

``We know for a fact there are at least 60 individuals who committed murder in Los Angeles County who are at large in Mexico,'' Cooley said. ``There is an extradition treaty with Mexico. Therefore we should just say it's in breach and go back to the table with them.''

Cooley called on people to write to President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell about the issue.

He also cited the shooting of sheriff's Deputy David Marsh on April 29, 2002, in Irwindale as an example of a suspect escaping to and hiding out in Mexico. Authorities say Marsh, a Saugus resident, was gunned down by Armando Garcia during a routine traffic stop.

Garcia had been deported three times and was a convicted methamphetamine dealer and weapons violator, Cooley said. At the time of the traffic stop, Garcia was wanted on two counts of attempted murder, according to the D.A.

``Armando Garcia was in Mexico within a couple of hours and he's now free in Mexico,'' Cooley said.

``That (deputy's) family is devastated,'' he added. ``The wife no longer has a husband. The daughter no longer has a father. The parents no longer have a son and the sister no longer has a brother.''

Cooley said Mexican officials' refusal to hand over suspects in such cases amounts to the government there attempting to extend its system of justice north into the United States.

``They can sentence how they want in Mexico, but they should not be imposing upon us their view of penal law and their sentencing philosophy,`` he said. ``If I was facing a life sentence, I'd run south.''

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

COOLEY