First Czech on FBI's Most Wanted list extradited from United States

Fugitive Jaromír Prokop has been extradited from the USA to Prague, Czech Police confirmed on Friday via Twitter.

Apprehended in the United States last year, Prokop was the first Czech to make the country's FBI Most Wanted list of highly-sought fugitives.

Prokop, the final member of what is known as the Berdych gang to be apprehended by police, was convicted in absentia to 13.5 years in prison for the abduction and murder of a jeweler in 1996 and other crimes including robbery.

U.S. police, in cooperation with Czech investigators, caught Prokop in the surroundings of Seattle in April 2020.

The Czech Justice Ministry then applied for his extradition to Prague, but proceedings were complicated by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. In the United States, Prokop reportedly used dozens of forged personal documents and committed property crimes.

The Berdych gang, named after its head David Berdych and comprised of dozens of members, is considered by many the largest case of organized crime in the history of the Czech Republic.

The gang accumulated over 100 million crowns through unlawful activities from 1995 until 2004, when a large number of suspects were arrested. More than 50 of them faced accusations or criminal charges.

The last of them to leave the prison was Berdych, who was released in June 2015 after serving about two-thirds of a 15-year sentence.