| It's been years since Eric Lippincott has returned home | | | | embassy told them it "had to remain neutral" and that it |
| from the nightmare he encountered in El Salvador, but | | | | could not provide the name of an attorney for the |
| the memory still haunts him. Lippincott was detained for | | | | men to contact. "They felt colder than the guards at |
| 72 days after he traveled to El Salvador with his boss, | | | | the prison," he said. |
| a bail bondsmen, in search of a 65-year-old man | | | | Veronica Flores, who has been the El Salvadoran |
| wanted in Las Vegas for five counts of child | | | | consulate in Utah for five years, flew to visit the three |
| molestation. The U.S. Embassy's lack of ability to help | | | | men after she received a phone call from Lippincott's |
| Lippincott should serve as a warning for all American | | | | mother. |
| travelers. | | | | Flores said that, while she was there, she went to |
| When Eric Lippincott was arrested and imprisoned in El | | | | speak directly with the U.S. Embassy and was not |
| Salvador, the U.S. Embassy said there was nothing it | | | | impressed. |
| could do. | | | | "The embassy treated them as guilty until proven |
| In October of 2005, Lippincott, his former boss Robert | | | | innocent and (was) condemning them (before the trial)," |
| Suckoll and his coworker Mark Pruter flew from Las | | | | she said. |
| Vegas to El Salvador as bail bondsmen in search of | | | | While Flores said she understands the U.S. Embassy |
| Julio Cesar Nerio, a 65-year-old man wanted in Las | | | | could not cross a certain line, she said she believes |
| Vegas for five counts of child molestation. | | | | members of the embassy could have been more |
| What was supposed to be a two-day trip turned into | | | | involved and much more supportive of the men. |
| 72 days of waiting, Lippincott said nearly nine months | | | | The embassy delivered the same message to |
| after his return. | | | | Suckoll's wife, Lesley Suckoll, that Lippincott received. |
| Lippincott said he now understands how much control | | | | "They called after the first court date, telling me that |
| the media can have in someone's life, because while in | | | | my husband was looking at three to six years," Lesley |
| El Salvador "it controlled our justice system," he said. | | | | Suckoll said. "I dropped the phone...they made me feel |
| The El Salvadoran newspapers misrepresented his | | | | like there was nothing anyone could do." |
| case, Lippincott said, recalling the words of the judge | | | | After days of uncertainty, an attorney was assigned |
| who presided at his trial. "If the media wouldn't have | | | | to represent Lippincott and the other two men. |
| created such a frenzy with their lies, (we) would have | | | | Although the embassy told Lippincott there was "no |
| left for the states much earlier." | | | | hope for bail," Flores, who remained in El Salvador with |
| A bail bonds company in Nevada released Nerio on | | | | Lippincott and the others, paid their collective $30,000 |
| $45,000 bail. He then fled the country, missing his court | | | | bail after the third trial. |
| date and sticking the company with the bill. | | | | After spending 18 days in what Flores said was "a |
| Lippincott said the group went to El Salvador, Nerio's | | | | very small room with a cement floor and a little hole in |
| native country, to talk him into coming back to the | | | | the ceiling for light" with little food and water, they were |
| United States to face his trial. | | | | released from their cell. |
| El Salvadoran police helped them locate Nerio and, | | | | While awaiting two more trials and a verdict, Lippincott, |
| after a short time, the three bails bondsmen convinced | | | | Suckoll and Pruter were kept under house arrest in El |
| the alleged criminal to return with them, Lippincott said. | | | | Salvador, where they were watched closely but |
| However, because Nerio did not have a passport, the | | | | granted more freedoms. |
| men were told he could not leave the country. | | | | On Dec. 20, at their fifth trial, a verdict was finally |
| Moments later, Lippincott and his companions found | | | | reached. When the English translator told the three |
| themselves in the custody of local police, Lippincott | | | | they were free to go home, Lippincott said he was |
| said. | | | | moved to tears. "I was so glad to just be free," he said. |
| Lippincott said that, even though they had taken | | | | Nerio remained in El Salvador while he recovered from |
| precautions by informing the proper authorities, including | | | | a health condition. |
| the U.S. Embassy, they were taken into custody at the | | | | On the morning of Dec. 22, 2005, nearly 72 days after |
| airport for allegedly depriving Nerio of his liberties in El | | | | his arrival in El Salvador, Lippincott returned home. |
| Salvador. | | | | While he said he holds no grudge against the El |
| "We were well aware of the fact that we didn't have | | | | Salvadoran police, Lippincott said his views on the U.S. |
| any rights over there-we were in their world," Lippincott | | | | Embassy have not changed. "The embassy never |
| said. | | | | wanted anything to do with us and did not make any |
| He said he had pinned all his hopes on the U.S. | | | | effort to help," he said. "I think, from my experience in El |
| Embassy, which came to visit them in prison after the | | | | Salvador, that our tax dollars are being wasted on the |
| arrest. | | | | American ambassadors. |
| But, Lippincott said, he was shocked when the | | | | |