Georgian diplomat convicted in fatal crash goes home

June 30, 2000
Web posted at: 6:11 p.m. EDT (2211 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A former Georgian diplomat, convicted in the high-speed crash that killed a teen-age U.S. girl three years ago, was returned to his home Friday in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, where he was to finish serving his sentence.

Gueorgui Makharadze, 39, was removed from a federal prison in North Carolina Thursday night and repatriated to finish serving his sentence in the Republic of Georgia, the U.S. Justice Department announced.

The case of Makharadze drew national attention because public outcry prompted Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze to take the unusual step of waiving Makharadze's diplomatic immunity from prosecution.

Prosecutors said Makharadze was drunk as his car raced through Washington at three-times the speed limit and crashed into a line of cars at a stoplight near Dupont Circle on January 3, 1997.

Makharadze pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the death of 16-year-old Joviane Waltrick, and to aggravated assault in the injury to four others in the accident.

The former second-in-command of the Georgian Embassy was sentenced to 7-21 years behind bars, and sent to a federal prison in Butner, North Carolina.

He will become eligible for parole in Georgia in October 2002. The Justice Department said that under Georgian law, Makharadze must be paroled by October 2007.

The government of Georgia requested the transfer of prisoner custody under Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Treaty, to which both countries are signatories.

CNN Producer Terry Frieden at the Justice Department and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Georgian diplomat admits guilt in teen's traffic death
October 8, 1997

Georgia - Consular Information Sheet
Council of Europe - (ETS No.112) Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons
CIA World Factbook -- Georgia

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