Fettered Martinelli returnsTo watch World Cup

The ex-president of Panama Ricardo Martinelli,  who had boasted that he would return to Panama with a triumphal cross country parade shuffled across the tarmac in leg irons and handcuffs   at Opa Locka airport in Miami in on Monday, June 11 with US federal marshals as his guard of honor

At 6:20 a.m., Miami time (5:20 a.m. Panama time), Martinelli boarded a  twin-engine jet with registration N-799PA. operated by the executive flight company Jet Logistics, based in  North Carolina. It was scheduled to land at the Panama Pacifico airport (former Howard military base)  at 8:36 a.m.

Martinelli with a chain around the waist and wearing cream-colored prison uniform greeted waiting for media with: ” I’m coming to see the World Cup in Panama!” according to Agence France Presse (AFP)

If lawyers representing victims of illegal wiretapping by Panama security snoops have their way,  his seat to watch Panama’s national team would be in a maximum security prison, while his successor will be sitting in a VIP seat in Russia to watch the opening game against Belgium.

A thinned down Martinelli returned one day short of completing a year behind bars in a Miami Federal detention center.