Where in the world were the Morrows? An I-Team follow up to ‘On the Run’
The U.S. government did not request Linda Morrow’s extradition, according to the same Israeli authorities, but because Linda entered Israel with a forged passport, she was deported back to the U.S.
Ashkelon is a coastal town of more than 100,000 people about eight miles north of the Gaza Strip.
An Israeli journalist who says she met the Morrows through mutual friends told News Channel 3 they used the names Mark and Hannah Schwartz.
He said he was a former surfer from California who showed deep knowledge of Jewish history and law. She said she was a public relations executive who was helping a nonprofit in Ashkelon. The Morrows, or Schwartz’s, attended a local Anglo Orthodox Chabad, and said they’d lived in Guatemala before moving to Ashkelon.
David Morrow’s next hearing in Israel is set for Sept. 12. His medical license was pulled in the U.S. and he was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison.
On August 16, Linda Morrow was expected to go before a federal judge in Santa Ana to for a status conference hearing related to fleeing the country instead of staying in the U.S. and going to trial on charges of identity and mail fraud. That hearing was delayed while she seeks a new Defense Attorney according to Thom Mrozek of the United States Attorney’s Office. She’s being held without bail, and federal prosecutors have asked that her previous bail be revoked.
Morrow’s trial on contempt charges is currently schedule to start Aug. 27, however, she was recently appointed a new attorney. That attorney declined to comment to News Channel 3 about the case. Linda Morrow pleaded not guilty to contempt on July 1.
Linda’s trial related to health care and identity fraud is also set for U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. On Aug. 23, federal prosecutors have asked the court to consider a motion to forfeit the $5,000 bail Linda and David Morrow posted in 2016. That trial is scheduled for Dec. 3.
