U.S. Says Mexico Tortured American Suspect

[Judi Lynn]

DECEMBER 6, 2011, 6:15 P.M. ET.
U.S. Says Mexico Tortured American Suspect
By NICHOLAS CASEY

The U.S. Justice Department has determined that an American convicted in Mexico of drug trafficking was tortured by authorities while in Mexican custody, a move that immediately freed him from prison and added troubling official allegations of abuse in Mexico's drug war.

The Department's Parole Commission, an agency that sets release dates for Americans convicted of crimes abroad and transferred home, said that Shohn Huckabee, 24, was "tortured in foreign custody" after Mexican soldiers said they discovered marijuana in his car. Mr. Huckabee denies the charges.

The parole board reduced the five-year sentence given to him by a Mexican judge, and released him with "time served," or 26 months, under a treaty signed between the two countries. The commission didn't comment on the marijuana charges. A copy of the ruling was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

"I'm definitely happy to be back with my family but the two years lost were very hard, both for me and for our family, and there's no recouping the time," said Mr. Huckabee on Tuesday by telephone from his home near El Paso, Texas.

More:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204903804577082564243718648.html?mod=googlenews_wsj