Font Size

New York Local News

Featured Slideshows

Celebrities Separated At Birth?

E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Lawyer: Serbia Wants Fugitive To Return To U.S.

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

Recipient E-mail:*
- Your Name:*
- Your E-mail:*
Add a Message:
Send me a copy of this e-mail.

Type the characters in this picture:*

Click here to refresh with new letters

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

Print Share +

Aug 20, 2008 9:23 am US/Eastern

Lawyer: Serbia Wants Fugitive To Return To U.S.

Miladin Kovacevic Turned Down Plea Bargain Deal

NEW YORK (AP) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: Miladin Kovacevic is accused of beating Bryan Steinhauer into a coma before fleeing to his native Serbia.
CBS

Close

numSlides of totalImages

Emotional Plea From Parents Of Beaten N.Y. Student
(7/25/2008)
Feds: Clock Is Ticking On Serbian Beating Suspect
(7/24/2008)
Serbia Refuses To Hand Over Student Wanted In U.S.
(7/21/2008)
Serb Fugitive Not To Be Handed To US
(7/21/2008)
Wanted Serbian Student Signs Basketball Contract
(7/16/2008)
Serb Student Wanted For Assault Won't Return To US
(8/7/2008)

Serbian authorities have sought to persuade a Serb wanted on assault charges in upstate New York to return there voluntarily to face justice, but he refuses to go, his lawyer said Wednesday.

The attorney, Veselin Cerovic, also said the defendant, former college student Miladin Kovacevic, turned down a plea bargain deal from the United States under which he would plead guilty to assault and evading justice, and serve 12 years in prison.

It was not immediately possible to contact U.S. officials to confirm the reported plea bargain offer.

Kovacevic, 20, a towering Serb who played basketball for Binghamton University, is accused of severely beating a fellow student, Bryan Steinhauer of Brooklyn, during a fight in a Binghamton bar last May.

Steinhauer, 22, only recently started to emerge from a coma that resulted from the fight.

Kovacevic was initially jailed in the U.S. but after being released on bail in June he escaped to Serbia on a duplicate passport.

Earlier this week, Kovacevic was filmed by an Associated Press Television News crew during a training session at a local basketball club in northern Serbia. He refused to talk to reporters.

Cerovic told the AP his client does not believe he would receive a fair trial in the U.S. and wants to be tried in Serbia instead. The lawyer said "this case has been so blown up in the media that there is no chance of a fair trial."

Washington has demanded that Serbia return Kovacevic to America to face justice. But Serbian authorities said local laws do not allow extradition. Cerovic said the Serbian government has "done all it could to persuade Miladin to return" voluntarily.

Cerovic added that the reported U.S. plea bargain offer "showed what kind of justice awaits him there." He said the offer was made through Kovacevic's U.S. lawyer.

"What is basically a small assault case has turned into an international problem," Cerovic said. "The only way out is to try him here."

WCBSTV.com's Most Popular Pages

You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.