Judge Denies Spanier’s Request for Saudi Arabia Trip

After plenty of back-and-forth between prosecutors and former Penn State president Graham Spanier in recent weeks, his request to go to Saudi Arabia was denied.

Spanier is facing charges including conspiracy and child endangerment in connection with an alleged coverup of former football coach Jerry Sandusky’s child sexual abuse.

As part of his bail condition, Spanier was forced to forfeit his passport to the commonwealth. He was previously granted temporary returns of his passport for work-related travel, including a trip to the same higher education conference in Saudi Arabia that he wanted to attend this coming November.

Judge Todd Hoover, who is no longer presiding over the case as he takes a medical leave of absence, was lenient with Spanier’s requests. However, replacement judge Richard Lewis took a stand in this instance, denying Spanier’s request because of unrest in that region of the world and the lack of an extradition treaty between the United States and Saudi Arabia.

In an order filed by the judge on Thursday, he explained his reasoning for the denial of Spanier’s request for a temporary passport return.

“In the past, [Spanier] has been permitted to travel several times within the United States and twice internationally,” the order said. “As time has passed, the fact of the absence of an extradition treaty with Saudi Arabia has become more critical as evidenced by the United States Department of State’s urgent warning regarding the serious risks of traveling to Saudi Arabia as a U.S. citizen.”

“More pertinent to this matter is the complete absence of a legal process by which [Spanier] could be returned to the United States for trial should he choose not to return or would unfortunately be detained as a result of unexpected political unrest, which is ever more commonplace in the region where he would be visiting,” Lewis added.

The judge pointed out that his predecessor in this case, Hoover, previously cited the issue regarding the lack of an extradition treaty with Saudi Arabia. 

“Presently, this court has reviewed all factors presented by the parties and herby finds that the narrow exclusion on [Spanier’s] ability to travel under the bail condition is entirely reasonable, especially in light of [his] virtually unfettered ability to travel since the bail condition was imposed,” Lewis wrote.

Elizabeth Ainslie, the attorney representing Spanier in his criminal case, was not immediately available to provide comment on the denial of her client’s travel request.