Judge: Former Fugitive Must Be Held Before Trial
FARGO, N.D. (AP) -- A former flight attendant who fled the U.S. nearly three years ago after he was accused of setting fire to an airplane bathroom has been ordered to remain jailed in Fargo until the case is tried.
Eder Rojas, formerly of Woodbury, Minn., faces charges of setting fire aboard an aircraft and failure to appear. Authorities say the 22-year-old Rojas started a fire on a May 2008 Compass Airlines flight from Minneapolis to Regina, Saskatchewan.
The plane made an emergency landing in Fargo. No injuries were reported.
Rojas was arrested on March 26 in Mexico. His trial is Sept. 27.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Klein on Monday denied a defense attorney's request that Rojas be allowed to stay in the same halfway house from which he fled in June 2008.
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