Archive - September 3, 2012

By Tim Rogers, GlobalPost (Credit: GlobalPost/Tim Rogers) This article originally appeared on GlobalPost. GRANADA, Nicaragua – A US family that has spent the past 23 months on an odyssey through the treacherous terrain of Nicaragua’s legal system hopes the adventure will end soon, with Jason Puracal’s safe return home to Tacoma, Washington. Puracal, 35, a former US Peace Corps volunteer and beachfront realtor in Nicaragua, could be acquitted by an appeals court by the end of this week. That would conclude nearly two years in jail on what his family, friends and international supporters claim are false charges of drug trafficking, money laundering and organized crime. But if appellate judges uphold the original ruling, the cocktail of crime convictions will keep the American behind bars in Nicaragua for 22 years. Puracal, who has a Nicaraguan wife and a 5-year-old son, was arrested inside his home in the beach town of . . .