LUSTER WHISKED OFF TO PRISON SERIAL RAPIST FLOWN BACK TO U.S. IN CHAINS.

Byline: Grace Lee Staff Writer

Fugitive Max Factor cosmetics heir Andrew Luster landed Thursday at Los Angeles International Airport after five months on the run that ended with his capture this week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

The convicted serial rapist - sentenced to 124 years in prison for raping and drugging three women and videotaping several of the attacks - was immediately taken into custody by Ventura County sheriff's officers and driven to state prison.

``We're very relieved that such a threat to public safety in any country is back in the hands of the law,'' said Ventura County Deputy District Attorney Tony Wold, who helped secure guilty verdicts at trial on 86 of 87 counts against Luster. He told the jury Luster - great-grandson of the Hollywood cosmetics legend - was like a spider who wove a web to lure victims, using the date-rape drug GHB to trap unsuspecting women.

With Luster's return, the $1 million cash bail posted by his mother will be returned to her. If he had not been returned by July 4, the money would have gone to the county and state, said Tessie Bigornia, the county's fiscal manager.

Sheriff's deputies drove the 39-year-old captured fugitive, who fled mid- trial, to Wasco State Prison, a processing center for incoming inmates. Margot Bach, spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections, said he would be sent to a high-security prison in one to three months.

During the airliner's flight to LAX, Luster's hands were chained at his waist, a passenger told The Associated Press. He whispered several times to accompanying FBI agents and appeared distraught, said Mike Levy.

``He was definitely going through a bad experience,'' Levy said.

According to federal authorities, the bounty hunters who caught Luster are still in jail in Puerto Vallarta facing kidnapping and other charges, and must face up to the consequences of their actions, which were illegal under Mexican law.

``Bounty hunters are expected to realize the risk of carrying out the lifestyle they've chosen,'' said Matthew Mclaughlin, spokesman for the Los Angeles FBI bureau.

But Beth Smith, the wife and business partner of chief bounty hunter Duane ``Dog'' Chapman, said the federal authorities had left her family in the lurch.

According to Smith, Chapman was in contact with the FBI all through his investigation.

Mclaughlin said authorities would ``do what we can to provide normal assistance,'' as they would to any American citizen jailed in Mexico.

Smith said her husband, son and brother-in-law, all part of the bounty- hunter team, were given no water or food in the first 24 hours of their detainment. But they have since been moved into a better facility, she said.

Jalisco state Gov. Francisco Ramirez told reporters in the state capital of Guadalajara on Thursday that at least some of the men would be charged ``because they are violating Jalisco laws, Mexican laws.''

The governor added: ``In principle, we find that they are depriving another person of his liberty. They took him in handcuffs without being police, and that is not allowed by the laws of our country.''

Meantime, Luster's capture has also sent the cast and crew of a cable TV movie on the Max Factor heir's life scrambling to stitch together a new ending.

The film, scheduled to debut Aug. 11 on the Lifetime channel. The movie was originally set to wrap next Wednesday in Vancouver, Canada, but shooting will be extended at least one day, said executive producer Larry Thompson.

Rachel Uranga and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Grace Lee, [phone]

grace.lee(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Duane ``Dog'' Chapman, in the Puerto Vallarta jail, faces possible Mexican charges after his collar of Andrew Luster.

Guillermo Arias/Associated Press