Sen. Brown, Rep. Ryan can influence Brazil on Hoerig

The family of murdered Trum- bull County resident Karl Hoerig is awaiting closure.

Prosecutor Dennis Watkins is waiting for the victim’s wife, Claudia, to be brought to justice — in the Mahoning Valley.

And, the people of this region are waiting for the government of Brazil to do the right thing and extradite the accused to the United States.

The waiting has gone on long enough. The time has come to force the issue.

It has been three years since Karl Hoerig, a major in the United States Air Force Reserve, was found shot to death in his Newton Falls home. The investigation determined that his wife, Claudia, who was a Brazilian citizen when she married Karl, had fled the U.S. and returned to her native country.

She is now living there, secure in the knowledge that the Brazilian government will not send her back to stand trial on a charge of aggravated murder with a gun specification.

The government has proposed having the case heard in Brazil, but Watkins rightly points out it would be nothing more than a judicial farce — and an expensive one at that for Trumbull County.

Watkins says the U.S. Justice Department presented a “strong case” to Brazil for why Claudia, 45, should be brought back, noting that she gave up her Brazilian citizenship in 1999.

Among the arguments put forth was this: She swore her allegiance to the United States during her National Oath Ceremony in 1999 and renounced her allegiance to “any foreign state.”

The folks in Brazil were unmoved, which means the case remains at an impasse.

But all is not lost. The power of the purse should not be underestimated.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, who was recently appointed to the very influential Senate Appropriations Committee, and U.S. Rep, Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, who is on the House Appropriations Committee and the subcommittee on defense, have the ability to persuade Brazil to do the right thing. The South American country has shown that money does move mountains.

Late last year, 9-year-old Sean, who was taken to Brazil by his Brazilian mother in 2005, was returned to his American father in New Jersey.

What caused the government to intervene in that case? Two things: the involvement of President Barack Obama; and, the action by the U.S. Senate to put on hold a trade deal worth about $2.75 billion a year to Brazil.

Urgency

The president discussed the matter of the child’s return to the United States with his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Another call from the White House on behalf of the family of Karl Hoerig, who served his country with distinction, will convey the sense of urgency in getting this case moving.

For their part, Sen. Brown and Rep. Ryan, along with Ohio’s other senator, Republican George V. Voinovich, should focus on this country’s financial relationship with Brazil.

It’s a truism that serving on either appropriations committee is one of the most sought-after assignments. And, it’s a testament to the legislative abilities of Brown, Voinovich and Ryan that the leaders of their respective parties have seen fit to grant them such an important assignment.

They should work with the White House in devising a quid pro quo: American dollars for the extradition of Claudia Hoerig.

There’s one thing the Brazilian government can be certain of: She will get a fair trial in the United States. On the other hand, Prosecutor Watkins and the family of Karl Hoerig are justified in not trusting the criminal justice system in Brazil.