FAQ

Where does Aarys want to live?

In Dec 2009 Nancy flew and visited Aarys. She took him before a lawyer and a judge while I was still in Bulgaria. Aarys told her, the lawyer, and the judge that he wants to remain where he is and reside with me. Aarys is 13 now and old enough to make his own decision. I have always told Aarys that if he wanted to go live with his mother he only needed to tell me and I would make it happen.

What does Aarys think of all this?

I have always made available all the court documents to Aarys to read. In his own words (misspellings are his too. :) ):

This situation has me feeling very upset. It sucks and is completely rediculous. I'm upset that my dad is not here for Christmas because all of this. I wish that my mom would tell the FBI to stop putting charges on him. She started it and she can end it. I would like to visit my mom sometimes. I know that this has not been possible because all of the problem. I do not feel kidnapped in any way by my dad.

However Nancy has done nothing to relieve the situation and this is creating a barrier for Aarys wanting to establish meaningful communication with her. He did reach her at Christmas at his grandmothers house.

Ok the dates are wrong, but didn't you still kidnap him?

In August 2006 the Pennsylvania judge ordered Nancy to follow the Tennessee order and return Aarys to me after his summer visitation. She transferred him to the airport and he flew to Cyprus. I can see in no manner of the definition how this could ever be considered a kidnapping.

If you are innocent, why don't you just go back to the US and sort this out?

1. Given the usage of false evidence and harassment, I do not believe I will receive a fair trial.
2. I was not in the US when the alleged act is said to have occurred. Why should I need to be there now? If Russia indicted you tomorrow for something you did not do and were not even there at the time, would you feel obligated to go to Russia and appear before the court?
   
3. Even if found innocent, I would likely spend a year or more in prison awaiting the outcome. In fact there is an incentive to for them to drag this out. The case seems more about harassing me than convicting me. I have 3 children, one of whom was born in Sep 2009 and is a newborn. My family needs me at home.
   
4. I object to the Federal Court being in Western PA. There are conflicting orders between the states of PA and TN. A court in PA, while Federal is made up of residents of PA as would a jury.
   

You would not need to wait in prison. They could release you on a bond. So why not go back to the US?

1. Despite the US Embassy being aware that the prison in Bulgaria does not even meet Bulgarian standards of human rights, let alone International ones, the US Department of State repeatedly requested that I be rearrested and put back in Bulgarian prison. What makes you think their actions would be any different in the US where they have total control?
2. I do not live in the US and neither does my family. Even if by some miracle I was released, I would be restricted to Western PA which is thousands of miles from my family. My wife cannot travel with the newborn baby and the US Embassy will likely deny her a visa to visit the US.
   

Why can't you leave Bulgaria?

Bulgaria has denined my extradition to the US, so aside from the harassment which will eventually end, I am safe in Bulgaria. If I leave Bulgaria, I will repeat this process again in the next country. Even if that country denies my extradition as well, it is very expensive to hire the lawyers necessary as well as the costs associated with living in a foreign country. Bulgaria is inexpensive and I have lots of friends here.

Who is doing this to you? Why are they putting so much effort into this?

• NCMEC is a not a government organization but receives the majority of its funding from the government. Because of this special status, they have power but little accountability. They took Nancy's statement at face value, then the "passing of the buck" started from there.
• The FBI agent says he relies on documents from NCMEC.
• The Department of State says they rely on doucments from the FBI.
• Bulgaria says they rely on documents from the Department of State.

Yet they all go back to the statements of Nancy. Nancy has previously and repeatedly lied under oath in court, and filed false statements before.

Come on. They aren't really out to get you. Aren't you just being paranoid?

"You aren't paranoid if they are really out to get you". Let me remind you:

• Three official representatives of the US Embassy in Cyprus threatened a friend of ours, who happens to be a religious minister.
• Another offical Embassy representative in our home country intimidated local police and attempted to bypass the courts of a foreign country and kidnap Aarys.
  
• My credit cards were "magically" stolen from sealed evidence and used.
• By opinion of several Bulgarian judges, the charges were trumped up far beyond reason in order to try to ensure an extradition.
• False statements have been made in official diplomatic communications to both my home country, as well as Bulgaria.

More details on the continued harrassment.

But you are a US citizen. Shouldn't you be accountable to a US court?

My second and third kids are US citizens but have never been to the US. Should the US courts be able to order them around as adults? Should Iranian women who now live in the US be bound by court decisions in Iran? Should Iran be able to force them to cover their faces in the US? The whole notion that a court can issue orders simply based on citizenship is ludicrous and I'm surprised every time someone asks this question.

Why don't you try to speak to the FBI and prosecutor and work out a deal?

One of my lawyers did approch them, as well as Nancy's attorney. None of them are interested in any form of negotiation unless I appear in the US. If I appear in the US, I will be detained in a prison. Of course none of them will have any reason to negotiate a settlement if I am in prison.

Does Aarys want to visit with his mother?

Of course he does. But the situation created by Nancy's actions have created a catch-22.

Why did you prevent Aarys from communicating with his mother since 2006?

I did not prevent Aarys from communicating with his mother. This is yet another of her false statements used against me. Aarys regularly called his mother until she disconnected her phone in Jan 2007. After that Aarys regularly tried to reach his mother on holidays at his grandmother's house. Later Nancy also moved and here where abouts were unknown. To this day, she has still not provided us with a new telephone nor address.

Why didn't you appeal the Pennsylvania order?

We did. The Pennsylvania appeals court refused to even hear the case because it was a temporary order. In Pennsylvania, temporary orders cannot be appealed. However the temporary order was given no expiration date and is essentially a permanent order. We believe the judge did this intentionally.

Why don't you just grow up and work this out with Nancy? You are hurting your son.

I have gone to extreme lengths to work out problems with Nancy. Instead she has taken advantage of this every time. I am not the obstacle to a resolution.

• In 2001 I let her have fully custody. She violated the visitation agreement. In 2004 she kidnapped him and disappeared.
  
• Because of that, in 2004 the courts gave me summer visitation. She violated this agreement too.
• Because of that in 2005 the courts gave me full custody and summner visitation to her. She violated this agreement as well.
• In 2006 she lied to the court and created a catch-22 situation.
• In 2007 she disconnected her telephone.
• In 2007 she told the PA state police that I entered the house and kidnapped him, despite the fact that I was not in the country at the time, nor was Aarys.
  
• In 2008 she moved with no forwarding address.
• In 2009 she lied to the FBI.

Nancy has continually lost visitation, custody, and other rights, but each time becuase of her own actions and her violations of court orders. The situation of today is no different, and was not created by my actions.

How did Nancy get a passport to visit Aarys?

Nancy's passport is still listed as revoked. However someone in the US Department of State overrode this restriction and issued Nancy a passport which was previously denied, and should have been denied again.

Why were you not extradited?

On Nov 24, 2009 the Bulgarian court denied my extradition to the US and on Dec 1, 2009 the decision became final. The court denied my extradition because the US purposefully trumps up the charges in order to make an extradition case, however the closest equivalent crime by charge is a civil matter in Bulgaria and punishable by a maximum sentence of 6 months. The extradition treaty only applies to criminal crimes (not civil), and ones that are punishable by 1 year or more in prison.

Where do you live?

Many people have asked where I currently live, and why I don't publicize it.

In 2007 I received many strange e-mails including pictures of me at conferences. They included vague threats, but included specific knowledge of my where abouts. We believe these are the actions of my ex-wife (she has threatened me as well, see history) but we could never prove it. These events caused me to speak at several conferences using an alias.

After several months the threats stopped, but we decided that it was time for me to separate my private life from my professional life. Because of this we protect our privacy and home location from the public. In documents posted on this site, I have removed just the name of our home country while leaving all other contents in tact.

While we do keep our location private from the public, the US Government, my family, my ex-wife, and close friends do know where we live.