If convicted fraudster Ian Thow is thinking about making a run for the border now that he's a free man, he ought to think again, according to the National Parole Board.
While Thow, who was born in California and is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada, may still have a passport, parole board spokesman Patrick Storey said if he tried to use it he'd very quickly find his way back behind bars.
"Thow would be a fool to take off to the U.S. as we have an extradition treaty with our friends to the south and upon his inevitable return to this jurisdiction he would be re-incarcerated," Storey said.
"If he did exercise this poor judgment, the Crown would, I'm sure, make every effort to have him returned to custody; they do in every other instance where this takes place.
"He has a sentence to serve, after all, and the expectation is that he will serve it to its full extent. The likelihood of returning to prison would mitigate his risk for flight somewhat."
It's unclear if Thow still has a valid passport from either the U.S. or Canada, and Storey noted provisions of the Privacy Act would preclude anyone at the parole board from disclosing information about that.
Thow, who was released from prison last week after serving less than a third of a nine-year prison sentence, was granted full parole.
However, the man who has been in jail since March 2010 for defrauding 20 people of $8 million, does have to adhere to special conditions.
Thow is not allowed to live with someone in an intimate relationship without the knowledge of his parole supervisor. He must provide documented financial information as scheduled by his supervisor and remain gainfully employed, actively looking for work or pursuing academic upgrading at all times. Thow must also get psychological counselling to address stress-management issues.
He is also to live in the Vancouver area during the parole period, which runs until March 3, 2017.
According to Passport Canada, this country can refuse passports for people charged in Canada or who are imprisoned or are otherwise forbidden to leave Canada. The U.S. has similar rules.
