AUSTIN — UPDATE: Taiwan News said Sept. 21 Cody Wilson was taken into custody at a hotel in Taipei's Wanhua District. The U.S. Marshals Service confirmed to KVUE that Wilson has been arrested.
Taiwan news reported that a real estate agent alerted police that Wilson signed a 6-month lease for an apartment after seeing news reports that he was wanted.
The U.S. Marshals confirmed they are involved in efforts to get Wilson back to the U.S., but did not elaborate on how that process will unfold.
Officials hoped that Wilson would come back to the U.S and surrender because that process would not involve negotiations among government in both countries. Now, authorities will have to work out a number of logistics before Wilson can arrive back to the U.S.
ORIGINAL STORY: With the Austin Police Department saying they believe Cody Wilson is in another country, the question now becomes when and how will he be arrested on his recent sexual assault charge.
Wilson, who is the Austin man behind 3D-printed gun company Defense Distributed, was charged with sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl on Aug. 15. During a press conference Wednesday, Austin police said Wilson's last known location was in Taipei, Taiwan.
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Police originally hoped to arrest Wilson at or near his home, but it became clear he was gone.
Officials hoped that Wilson would come back to the U.S and surrender because that process would not involve negotiations among government in both countries. Now, authorities will have to work out a number of logistics before Wilson can arrive back to the U.S.
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According to the U.S. State Department, Taiwan does not have an extradition agreement with the United States. However, federal officials from time-to-time strike informal agreements with other countries to get a high-profile defendants back, even without a formal agreement in place. Police also confirmed Wednesday that the U.S. Marshals Service has been requested to help get Wilson back to Travis County.
Travis County prosecutors are expected to agree to what is called a "full extradition." That means that no matter where Wilson lands in the United States, the county will agree to pay for the costs to have him brought from that point back to Austin.