ZCZC
BFF-09
PALAU-US-CRIME-DRUGS
Fugitive DHL heir arrested, jailed in Palau
KOROR, Palau, July 21, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The fugitive DHL heir Larry
Hillbroom Jr has been arrested and jailed in Palau after two days on the run,
the Pacific island nation’s attorney general said Saturday.
Hillbroom was found at his girlfriend’s house after fleeing arrest when he
failed a mandatory drugs test imposed as part of a trafficking sentence.
The multi-millionaire, who holds US and Palau passports, is a son of Larry
Hillblom, co-founder of the shipping company, although their surnames are
spelled differently.
Hillbroom was sentenced to 10 years’ probation, fined $50,000 and ordered
to undergo a drugs rehabilitation programme last month after admitting
trafficking methamphetamine.
Authorities had warned him he would serve a five-year jail term if he
failed the drugs test.
“Yes, Hillbroom went to jail right away,” Attorney General Ernestine
Rengiil told AFP when asked if the full sentence had been invoked following
his arrest.
Hillbroom had faced a jail term of up to 50 years before pleading guilty at
the last minute to trafficking charges under a deal that allowed him to
escape incarceration last month.
Rengiil said the conditions in the plea agreement clearly stated that if he
tested positive for drugs it would mean immediate incarceration.
The initial plea bargain had angered Palau President Tommy Remengesau who
said the island nation’s zero tolerance policy on drugs should apply to all
people, regardless of their wealth.
Hillbroom is one of four illegitimate children fathered by Larry Hillblom,
and successfully sued for a share of the billionaire businessman’s fortune
after Hillblom died in a plane crash in 1995.
His inheritance has been estimated at $100 million, although he said last
year that financial mismanagement meant it was now much less.
Hillbroom, normally based in the United States, was visiting Palau in 2016
when he was arrested for allegedly arranging for two women to smuggle
methamphetamine from the Philippine capital Manila to Palau.
He fled from custody after his arrest but was caught a night later when
police plucked him from the sea as he tried to swim away.
BSS/AFP/GMR/0959 hrs