Jorge Puello - El Salvador Connection Must First Be Clarified

[URL=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hjSeqH8FU5jGlDyse7gnz…] Dominican Republic lawyer for Americans in Haiti has no license[/URL]

An official says the Dominican man giving legal advice to 10 Americans detained in Haiti on child-kidnapping charges has no license to practice law in his home country.

Jorge Puello operates a consulting and law practice in Santo Domingo. He has been spokesman for the American Baptists charged with child kidnapping after they tried to take 33 children out of the country without authorization.

Jose Parra is vice president of the Dominican Lawyers Association. He says Puello has no license to practice.

[URL=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/world/americas/14haiti.html Church Adviser May Have Warrant [/URL]

The man who was providing legal advice to the American church members arrested in Haiti may have a string of legal charges against him in the United States as well as a warrant for his arrest in El Salvador for sex trafficking, records show.

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Public records and court documents in the United States also indicate that a person with the same name and birth date is considered a fugitive and is wanted by the Miami police, the United States Customs and the United States Marshals Service. The name and birth date are also the same as the man being pursued by the police in El Salvador and for whom Interpol has transmitted an arrest warrant.

An order is listed in the United States national crime database for a man with that name and birth date to be arrested on sight and reported to United States immigration officials. Those records say he is wanted in connection with crimes including bank fraud in the United States and Canada, and theft of American government property. Police records say he has violated parole.

Also in Idaho Statesman http://www.idahostatesman.com/eyepiece/story/1079225.html

When asked in an interview on Thursday to explain whether he was tied to the sex trafficking ring, Mr. Puello was silent at first and then became enraged.

“I don’t have to answer any questions from you people,” he said.

Salvadoran police say they want to question Mr. Puello in connection with a sex trafficking ring that was broken up last year in which women and girls from Central America and the Caribbean were lured into prostitution through offers of modeling jobs. The suspect police are seeking is named Jorge Anibal Torres Puello, which Mr. Puello said was not his full name.

Puello has denied any wrongdoing.