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Australia’s Attorney General Mark Dreyfus approved the
extradition on Monday, ending the Boston-born 55-year-old's
nearly two-year attempt to avoid being returned to the U.S.
Duggan, who served in the Marines for 12 years before
immigrating to Australia and giving up his U.S. citizenship, has
been in a maximum-security prison since he was arrested in 2022
at his family home in the state of New South Wales. He is the
father of six children.
Dreyfus confirmed in a statement on Monday he had approved the
extradition but did not say when Duggan would be transferred to
the U.S.
“Duggan was given the opportunity to provide representations as
to why he should not be surrendered to the United States. In
arriving at my decision, I took into consideration all material
in front of me," Dreyfus said in the statement.
In May, a Sydney judge ruled Duggan could be extradited to the
U.S., leaving an appeal to the attorney general as Duggan’s last
hope of remaining in Australia.
In a 2016 indictment from the U.S. District Court in Washington,
D.C., unsealed in late 2022, prosecutors said Duggan conspired
with others to provide training to Chinese military pilots in
2010 and 2012, and possibly at other times, without applying for
an appropriate license.
Prosecutors say he received payments totaling around 88,000
Australian dollars ($61,000) and international travel from
another conspirator for what was sometimes described as
“personal development training.”
If convicted, Duggan faces up to 60 years in prison. He denies
the allegations.
“We feel abandoned by the Australian government and deeply
disappointed that they have completely failed in their duty to
protect an Australian family,” his wife, Saffrine Duggan, said
in a statement on Monday. “We are now considering our options."
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