THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 1, 1994 TAG: 9409010522
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
Dennis Strole was on his way to a weekly outing with his running club when the police showed up.
It was early one Saturday morning, outside Strole's home near Guadalajara, Mexico.
Strole, a 58-year-old retired U.S. Navy captain, had just pulled his car out of the garage. He stopped so his wife could dash inside for her sunglasses.
Just then, the Mexican judicial police pulled in behind Strole, ordered him out of his car, confiscated his military ID card, then took him away.
``I had no idea what was going on,'' Strole said of his arrest on July 16. ``I was shaking like a leaf and my heart was pounding. A million things run through your mind. It could be anything.''
He didn't know it, but Strole, a former Navy pilot and Vietnam veteran, was wanted in the United States. The charge: defrauding the U.S. government by overbilling the military.
Strole is vice president of Person-System Integration Ltd., a Virginia Beach contracting firm. His arrest sparked a major flap among American citizens in Guadalajara, where Strole is president of a large American social/service society.
His six-week ordeal in Mexico, including 40 days in prison, ended last week when he was flown to the United States for a hearing. He and two other company officials were indicted in May on 15 counts of mail fraud and making false statements.
The company, which provided the Navy with training and instructional programs and materials, allegedly overbilled for travel and labor expenses.
On Wednesday, Strole pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Norfolk. He is free on a $50,000 personal recognizance bond. A magistrate ruled that Strole may return to Mexico until his February trial in Norfolk.
The arraignment took 15 minutes. But getting Strole to Norfolk took three months, including weeks of waiting in Mexican prisons while paperwork cleared.
A prosecutor said Strole's story is not unusual. He was treated no worse, and no better, than any American in a foreign country who faces criminal charges in the United States.
``Mr. Strole did not appear for his arraignment on June 1,'' said Scott MacKay, senior trial attorney with the U.S. Defense Procurement Fraud Unit. ``According to normal procedure, Magistrate (William) Prince ordered that an arrest warrant be issued for Mr. Strole.
``Mr. Strole initially declined to waive extradition, but later changed his mind and he was returned to the United States. That is the standard procedure for bringing people back who are in foreign countries.''
Strole, however, says he did not show up for his arraignment because he did not know about it. He said he was never notified of the May 18 indictment and was never told of the June 1 arraignment.
This happened, Strole said, even though he has lived at the same address for three years, pays U.S. income taxes, pays Virginia income taxes and is registered with the U.S. consulate. U.S. officials should have known where to reach him, he said.
``I wasn't hiding out in Mexico,'' Strole said Wednesday.
After his arrest, Strole said, he was held for three days in a cell that had five other inmates, no beds and no running water. He slept on the concrete floor.
Later, he was transferred to a slightly better prison that had running water about seven hours a day, but still no bed. Eventually, he said, he got a flat piece of foam for a mattress.
Meanwhile, about 5,000 American citizens around Strole's town of Ajijic began a letter-writing campaign to free Strole. They wrote or called anyone who could help: U.S. congressmen, the consulate, the Justice Department.
Randy ``Duke'' Cunningham, a congressman from San Diego and fellow Navy veteran of the Vietnam War, helped speed up Strole's extradition.
Finally, Strole said, he flew last week to California for his first hearing.
After all the effort in Mexico to ensure he did not flee, Strole was quickly released by a Los Angeles judge. The judge made Strole sign a paper, then reminded him to appear in Norfolk for this week's arraignment.
``They said, `OK, bye,' '' Strole said. ``I had my passport and everything. I could have gone to Timbuktu if I wanted to.''
Strole's trial is scheduled to start Feb. 6. His attorney, Stephen C. Swain, promised the magistrate that his client will return and will not require another round of extradition. ILLUSTRATION: Map
STAFF
Dennis Strole's arraignment took 15 minutes. But getting him to
Norfolk took three months, including weeks of waiting in Mexican
prisons.
KEYWORDS: ARREST MEXICO MAIL FRAUD by CNB