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Erik Audé

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Erik Audé
Born
Erik Anthony Audé

(1980-04-05) April 5, 1980 (age 44)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actor, Stuntman, Poker player
Known forArrested in Pakistan for Drug trafficking

Erik Anthony Audé[1] (born April 5, 1980) is an American actor, stuntman and professional poker player who was arrested and imprisoned in Pakistan for drug trafficking. Audé maintains that he was duped into carrying opium, and that he believed he was importing leather goods. This story is featured in an episode of National Geographic Channel's Locked Up Abroad, wherein he plays his own role.

History

Audé was born in Beverly Hills, California. He attended Bethel Christian School in Lancaster, California and played American football there.[2][3]

In 2002, Audé was persuaded to carry leather samples from Islamabad, Pakistan to the United States by Razmik Minasian (who used the alias Rai Gharizian), an Armenian client at the gymnasium where Audé was employed. Minasian concealed from Audé the fact that the case containing leather skirts and jackets also contained opium.[4] On February 15, 2002, Audé was arrested at Islamabad International Airport after being found, according to Pakistani authorities, with 3.6 kilograms[5] (7.9 pounds[6]) of opium in the process of embarking on his scheduled flight to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.[7]

Pakistan is not a party to the United States' Prison Transfer Treaty program. The actor, convicted in January 2003,[5] began serving a sentence of seven years at the Adiala Central Jail in nearby Rawalpindi. At the time, a number of articles in the press speculated on the odds of his surviving the full term of his seven-year sentence.[7]

Audé's 2004 release followed an appeal by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson just before Christmas, and followed Minasian's written confession that Audé was innocent of knowing he was being used to smuggle opium.[8] A number of websites were set up to help promote his cause, and to document the struggle to free him. The actor arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on December 26, 2004 after entering the United States at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. As of 2009 Audé lives in the San Fernando Valley.[9]

Filmography

References

  1. ^ Erik Aude. Crime Library. August 18, 2007. p. 12 The End. Retrieved on November 26, 2012. "An overnight flight delay, that was something Erik Anthony Audé could handle."
  2. ^ "ACTOR SENTENCED TO 7 YEARS." Daily News of Los Angeles. January 8, 2003. Retrieved on September 24, 2011. "A former Bethel High School football star[...]
  3. ^ Erik Aude. Crime Library. August 18, 2007. p. 8 Witness to the Execution (Archive). Retrieved on November 26, 2012. "The voices reminded him of the crowds back in Lancaster, California, the Poppy Capital of California, when he was playing football for Bethel Christian Academy."
  4. ^ Murr, Andrew and Ron Moreau. "'I'm Guilty of Being Gullible'." Newsweek (March 2002) Retrieved on July 7, 2009.
  5. ^ a b ""Pakistan releases jailed US actor" ." BBC. (Friday December 24, 2004) Retrieved on July 7, 2009.
  6. ^ "SoCal actor released from Pakistan prison returns to LA." North County Times. Sunday December 26, 2004. Retrieved on July 7, 2009.
  7. ^ a b Smith, L. Christopher, "Among the Terrorists," Men's Journal, August 2007, Pages 104-205
  8. ^ "Milestones." TIME (Monday January 3, 2005) Retrieved on July 7, 2009.
  9. ^ Smith, L. Christopher, "Among the Terrorists," Men's Journal, August 2007, Page 107

Further reading

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