Joran van der Sloot to fight US extradition

LIMA, Peru (KABC) -- Joran van der Sloot's lawyer said his client will fight extradition from Peru to the U.S., where he faces extortion and wire fraud charges in connection with the disappearance of American teen Natalee Holloway.

Van der Sloot is the prime suspect in the unsolved case surrounding Holloway, who vanished while in Aruba in 2005. Van der Sloot faces an indictment in the U.S. for allegedly accepting $25,000 in 2010 in exchange for an unfulfilled promise to lead Holloway's mother's lawyer to the girl's body.

When a judge informed the 24-year-old Dutchman of the extradition request, van der Sloot's lawyer said his client would fight extradition.

If he remains in Peru, van der Sloot's laywer said his client could be released on parole after serving a third of his 28-year sentence for killing a Lima woman he met at a casino in May 2010.

On the other hand, if he were convicted in the U.S., van der Sloot likely would not qualify for early parole in Peru. Under the U.S.-Peru extradition treaty, he would be returned to Peru to finish out his sentence. Then, if he were convicted in the U.S., he would be sent there to serve the second sentence.

If Peru's Supreme Court approves the extradition request it will then need to be approved by the country's council of ministers.

Van der Sloot was sentenced in January after he confessed to beating and strangling 21-year-old Stephany Flores in his Lima hotel room exactly five years after Holloway disappeared on Aruba, the Dutch dependency where he grew up.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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