INTO THE DISAPPEARANCE OF GARY LEVIN, THE MAN FOUND DRIVING HIS CAR IN NORTH CAROLINA IS NOW A PERSON OF INTEREST. LEVIN, WHO IS FROM PALM BEACH GARDENS, HAS BEEN MISSING FOR MORE THAN A WEEK. AND YESTERDAY, HIS DAUGHTER CONFIRMED ON FACEBOOK THAT THE 74 YEAR OLD HAS DIED. TONIGHT WE HAVE LIVE TEAM COVERAGE SOOJI NAM TALKS WITH A FAMILY MEMBER WHO’S SHARING MORE MEMORIES OF GARY LEVIN. WE BEGIN WITH TERRY PARKER WITH THE MAN CONNECTED TO THIS CASE. TERRY. WITH A PENDING MURDER CHARGE AGAINST HIM AND NOW BEING CALLED AN OFFICIAL PERSON OF INTEREST IN THE DISAPPEARANCE AND DEATH OF GARY LEVIN. YOU MIGHT THINK MATTHEW FLORES WOULD BE BROUGHT BACK TO FLORIDA AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. I TALKED DIRECTLY TO THE NORTH CAROLINA DISTRICT ATTORNEY WHO HAS CUSTODY OF FLORES AND HE EXPLAINS IT COULD BE A VERY LONG TIME BEFORE MATTHEW FLORES IS RETURNED. AFTER A THREE COUNTY CHASE LAST WEEK, MATTHEW FLORES IS BEING HELD IN RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA, ON A FELONY CHARGE OF FLEEING TO ELUDE. PLUS DWI, A PAROLE VIOLATION IN ANOTHER COUNTY. ACCORDING TO THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY THERE, FLORES WON’T BE EXTRADITED RIGHT AWAY BACK TO FLORIDA, BUT WILL LIKELY FACE THE NORTH CAROLINA CHARGES FIRST IN THE PROCESS, INCLUDING POSSIBLE JAIL TIME, COULD TAKE MONTHS. THE GENERAL RULE IN GENERAL TERMS IS THAT WHOEVER HAS THE PERSON GETS TO GO FIRST. SINCE HE WAS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY HERE, OUR CHARGES ARE WE HAVE HIM. SO WE GET PRECEDENT. WE GO FIRST ONCE WE’RE FINISHED WITH HIS CASE HERE. THEN THE EXTRADITION FROM FLORIDA CAN BE PUT INTO FORCE AND HE COULD BE EXTRADITED BACK TO FLORIDA. FLORES HAS A SECOND DEGREE MURDER WARRANT AGAINST HIM FOR ALLEGEDLY SHOOTING A WAUCHULA MAN TO DEATH JANUARY 24TH. WHILE ON THE RUN FROM THAT, HE SOMEHOW ENDED UP IN POSSESSION OF MISSING AND NOW DECEASED LIVE DRIVER GARY LEVIN’S KIA STINGER. FLORES IS A PERSON OF INTEREST IN LEVIN’S DISAPPEARANCE. THERE IS AN ACT OF HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION AND INTO HUMAN REMAINS FOUND IN OKEECHOBEE, NEAR WHERE LEVIN VANISHED. AND WHILE DETECTIVES IN FOUR FLORIDA AGENCIES SCRAM ABLE TO SOLVE THIS MYSTERY, FLORES WILL BE IN A NORTH CAROLINA COURT FEBRUARY 22ND. AT THAT POINT, HE CAN CHOOSE TO EITHER PLEAD GUILTY TO SOME ARRANGEMENT TO THOSE CHARGES IF HE CHOOSES NOT TO PLEAD GUILTY, THEN WE CAN HAVE A PROBABLE CAUSE HEARING, WHICH SENDS THE CASE TO SUPERIOR COURT. WE THEN GO TO THE GRAND JURY TO GET AN INDICTMENT. GOING THROUGH ALL OF THAT PROCESS. SO IF FLORES PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO THE NORTH CAROLINA CHARGES, TED BELL SAYS HE WOULDN’T GO TO TRIAL UNTIL ABOUT MAY. THAT PROCESS COULD TAKE MONTHS ALONE. AND THEN IF HE’S FOUND GUILTY, HE WOULD FACE AT LEAST A YEAR PRISON SENTENCE THERE. TED BELL TELLS ME THE ONLY WAY AROUND THAT IS IF FLORES SOMEHOW POST HIS $2 MILLION BOND, THAT HE WOULD BE SET FREE ON BOND AND FLORIDA COULD SCOOP HIM UP ON THE CHARGES HERE. COMING UP AT SIX, THE BIG MOVES ALREADY IN PLACE TO GET FLORES BACK HERE. EVENTUALLY, IF HE FIGHTS
Matthew Flores may not be extradited to face Florida murder charge, Lyft driver investigation for months
Extradition warrant going to Gov. DeSantis but North Carolina charges come first
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Updated: 6:56 AM EST Feb 9, 2023
After a three-county chase last week, Matthew Flores is being held in Rutherford County, North Carolina, on a felony charge of fleeing to elude, plus DWI and parole violation in another county.According to the district attorney there, Flores won’t be extradited right away back to Florida, but will likely face the North Carolina charges first.Previous Coverage: Matthew Flores named person of interest in missing Lyft driver Gary Levin's disappearanceAnd already, agencies are scrambling to get Flores back to Florida if he fights extradition. They’re asking Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign and send an extradition warrant to North Carolina’s governor. "We've spoken with some folks from the governor's office with regards to the extradition warrant. We've spoken with folks from the North Carolina attorney general's office who facilitate it on our end to get the governor's warrant for the extradition. So there's been been a large amount of attention on this case to ensure that things get done as quickly and as properly as possible," said Rutherford County District Attorney Ted Bell.But unless Flores posts his $2 million bond, he will be held in North Carolina on that state's charges and if convicted likely will serve jail time first, which Bell says given his prior criminal history, could be a minimum of one year.“The general rule in general terms is that whoever has the person gets to go first. Since he was taken into custody here, our charges, we have him. So we get precedent. We go first. Once we're finished with his case here, then the extradition from Florida can be put into force and he can be extradited back to Florida," Bell said.Flores has a second-degree murder warrant against him for allegedly shooting a Wauchula man, Jose Martinez, to death Jan. 24. While on the run, Flores somehow ended up in possession of missing and now-dead Lyft driver Gary Levin’s Kia Stinger.Flores is a person of interest in Levin’s disappearance.There is an active homicide investigation into human remains found near where Levin vanished. And while detectives in four Florida agencies scramble to solve the mystery, Flores will be in North Carolina court Feb. 22."At that point, he can choose to either plead guilty or to some arrangement to those charges. If he chooses not to plead guilty, then we can have a probable cause hearing which sends the case to Superior Court. We then go to the grand jury, get an indictment going through all of that process," Bell said.Bell said if Flores goes to court on the fleeing and eluding charge, they won't be able to schedule a trial until about May.
RUTHERFORD COUNTY, N.C. — After a three-county chase last week, Matthew Flores is being held in Rutherford County, North Carolina, on a felony charge of fleeing to elude, plus DWI and parole violation in another county.
According to the district attorney there, Flores won’t be extradited right away back to Florida, but will likely face the North Carolina charges first.
Previous Coverage: Matthew Flores named person of interest in missing Lyft driver Gary Levin's disappearance
And already, agencies are scrambling to get Flores back to Florida if he fights extradition. They’re asking Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign and send an extradition warrant to North Carolina’s governor.
"We've spoken with some folks from the governor's office with regards to the extradition warrant. We've spoken with folks from the North Carolina attorney general's office who facilitate it on our end to get the governor's warrant for the extradition. So there's been been a large amount of attention on this case to ensure that things get done as quickly and as properly as possible," said Rutherford County District Attorney Ted Bell.
But unless Flores posts his $2 million bond, he will be held in North Carolina on that state's charges and if convicted likely will serve jail time first, which Bell says given his prior criminal history, could be a minimum of one year.
“The general rule in general terms is that whoever has the person gets to go first. Since he was taken into custody here, our charges, we have him. So we get precedent. We go first. Once we're finished with his case here, then the extradition from Florida can be put into force and he can be extradited back to Florida," Bell said.
Flores has a second-degree murder warrant against him for allegedly shooting a Wauchula man, Jose Martinez, to death Jan. 24.
While on the run, Flores somehow ended up in possession of missing and now-dead Lyft driver Gary Levin’s Kia Stinger.
Flores is a person of interest in Levin’s disappearance.
There is an active homicide investigation into human remains found near where Levin vanished.
And while detectives in four Florida agencies scramble to solve the mystery, Flores will be in North Carolina court Feb. 22.
"At that point, he can choose to either plead guilty or to some arrangement to those charges. If he chooses not to plead guilty, then we can have a probable cause hearing which sends the case to Superior Court. We then go to the grand jury, get an indictment going through all of that process," Bell said.
Bell said if Flores goes to court on the fleeing and eluding charge, they won't be able to schedule a trial until about May.
