Celebrity chef Conrad Gallagher is due to arrive in Dublin under Garda escort at 6 a.m. tomorrow on Aer Lingus flight 104 from New York, after dropping last-minute plans to fight his extradition to Ireland on charges of art theft, writes Conor O'Clery in New York.
A source at Kennedy Airport said last night that Mr Gallagher was booked on tonight's flight out of New York, but it was possible he might be extradited last night if he and his two Garda escorts got standby seats.
Mr Gallagher appeared in court in Brooklyn at 1.30 p.m. yesterday to appeal the extradition, but told Magistrate Cheryl Pollak that he had changed his mind after seeking fresh legal counsel.
"He got bad jailhouse advice," Assistant US District Attorney Ms Lara Treinis Gatz told The Irish Times. "He heard that if he agreed to go back he can never come back to the United States."
He was told that this was not the case, she said.
If he was acquitted in the art theft case "there is no immigration problem," and if not, he could apply to the immigration authorities for permission to return.
The Donegal-born chef married Ms Jennifer Harrison from California in September and they opened a lounge called Traffic in Manhattan. They have an address in Brooklyn.
Mr Gallagher (32) was arrested in New York on April 10th, and has spent the last month in the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn awaiting extradition.
At a court appearance soon after his arrest, he waived his right to an extradition hearing and was due to be escorted to JFK airport on Sunday evening and put on the regular Aer Lingus flight to Dublin.
However, he reportedly asked for a new legal aid lawyer last week and Ms Gatz said he complained he had not properly consented to waiving his extradition hearing.
Mr Gallagher "agreed to go back voluntarily" at yesterday's court hearing and seats were sought on the 6.30 p.m. flight from New York to Dublin last night for the chef and his two Irish police officer escorts, Ms Gatz said.
The extradition warrant was issued after Mr Gallagher failed to turn up for his trial in Dublin on October 15th, 2002.
He faces charges in relation to three paintings which he allegedly sold in December 2000.