Arizona Republican in federal custody on child smuggling charges.

Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen is now in federal custody after his release from a county jail, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said Friday.

Petersen had been in a Maricopa County jail since Tuesday night when state police officers arrested him in connection with what authorities have described as an illegal adoption scheme stretching from the Republic of Marshall Islands to Arizona, Arkansas and Utah.

Sgt. Joaquin Enriquez, a spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, told The Arizona Republic that Petersen was released into federal custody. It's unclear where Petersen is being held.

Prosecutors in the three states allege Petersen committed a range of offenses as an adoption attorney, from wire fraud in Arkansas to human smuggling in Utah to fraudulent schemes in Arizona, 62 charges in all.

The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas filed federal charges against Petersen Wednesday. A 19-count indictment charges Petersen and his co-defendant there, Maki Takehisa, with conspiracy to smuggle the women for private financial gain; aiding and abetting the smuggling; wire fraud; mail fraud; conspiracy to commit visa fraud; and conspiracy to commit money laundering.




https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/mesa/2019/10/11/paul-petersen-adoption-federal-custody-release-maricopa-county-jail/3947856002/