After spending 16 months in a Pakistani jail, a former deputy treasurer for the U.S. state of Ohio, Amer Ahmad, returned to the United States and was handed a 15-year prison sentence on August 28 on corruption charges.
Appearing in federal court, a noticeably gaunt Ahmad apologized and expressed thanks that he was back in his native country.
The 40-year-old Akron, Ohio, native, who also served as Chicago's city comptroller, fled to Pakistan in April 2014 after pleading guilty to steering state business to his financial adviser in exchange for more than $500,000 in kickbacks while working for Democratic Treasurer Kevin Boyce.
Caught at the Lahore, Pakistan, airport with fake travel documents and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, Ahmad initially said he wanted to remain in the country.
But he soon changed his mind after experiencing "rugged" jail conditions in Pakistan, including having to sleep on the floor, and sought to serve out his prison term in the United States.
"I didn't think I'd ever see you again," U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Watson said, before sending him off to jail.
