Feds charge ex-Dauphin County GOP Chairman William Smith with trying to arrange son's escape in Peru

Source: The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, PA)

Former Dauphin County GOP chairman and political player William Trickett Smith Sr., who has a string of criminal convictions, is facing new federal charges that he tried to help his son escape from prison.

His son, William Trickett Smith II, is behind bars in South America after pleading guilty to murdering his Peruvian wife.

U.S. Attorney Peter J. Smith said Wednesday that the elder Smith, 76, of Swatara Township, twice tried to arrange escapes for his son, lied to federal investigators about the plots, and also tried to get another person to lie to federal agents.

The younger Smith was arrested in Pennsylvania for his wife's slaying in 2008. Peruvian authorities sought his extradition for the crime, which occurred in that country. Federal investigators claim that in 2009 and 2010 his father devised plans for his son to escape before being extradited.

Read more: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/10/feds_charge_ex-dauphin_county.html