LONDON (Reuters) - An American man who allegedly faked his own death but was identified in hospital by his tattoos can be extradited from Scotland to the United States, a court ruled on Wednesday, with the final decision due to be taken by Scottish ministers.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court ruled that there was no legal barrier to the extradition of the man who U.S. prosecutors say is linked to rape and sexual assault allegations in Utah.
U.S. prosecutors say the man is Nicholas Rossi who fled the United States and attempted to fake his own death, from non-Hodgkin lymphoma, in an effort to avoid being located and charged. They say he also used other aliases.
He says he is Arthur Knight and is a victim of mistaken identity and has never been to the United States. He has not been required to address the substance of the Utah allegations as part of the hearings he has faced in Scotland.
Sheriff Norman McFadyen, who presided over the case, concluded that his extradition would be compatible with Britain's human rights laws.
"It follows that I must send the case of the requested person Nicholas Rossi to the Scottish ministers for their decision whether he is to be extradited," McFadyen said.
Rossi was first arrested by police in October in 2021 after checking himself into a hospital in Glasgow with COVID-19.
Police and medical staff concluded he was Rossi after comparing his tattoos with Interpol pictures.
McFadyen said he was "as dishonest and deceitful as he is evasive and manipulative".
Last year, an Edinburgh court ruled that he was Rossi, the fugitive wanted in Utah.
No date has yet been set for the final decision by ministers.
(Reporting by Farouq Suleiman; Editing by William James and Alison Williams)
