CLEVELAND: Federal authorities say a man who fled the United States after pleading guilty in 1994 in a $3.2 million food stamp fraud case has been arrested in Israel and returned to Northeast Ohio.
U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott says Najeh Ottallah, 54, was arrested last month in Jerusalem. A hearing is scheduled in federal court in Cleveland on Wednesday.
Cleveland.com reports the former Lakewood man has been wanted on an arrest warrant since 1995, when he fled before his federal court sentencing on three food stamp fraud-related charges.
Ottallah attorney’s, Kent Minshall, says “nobody ran him down.” Minshall says Otallah is like others who want to return to the United States where they can get better health care as they get older, even if they have to serve prison time.