Why should Delaware care?
The canceled extradition of Bruce Tigani Jr. highlights an apparent communication breakdown between state governments in Delaware and Louisiana. Extraditions are routine but require coordination between governor’s office within respective states
A Delaware man accused of sending death threats to a Louisiana lawmaker will not immediately be extradited to the southern state.
Last month, Bruce Tigani Jr. was criminally charged for what police in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana claimed were a string of threats he made against State Rep. Michael Echols, a northern Louisiana Republican.
The threats posted last year on X, formerly Twitter, by an anonymous user included statements such as, “Lol your life is over,” and “you’re going to lose everything you ever even thought about loving,” according to an affidavit from the investigating officer.
Tigani’s extradition hearing, scheduled for Friday at a Justice of the Peace Court in New Castle, was abruptly canceled just minutes after it was set to commence. A court staffer said officials did so after Tigani and Delaware authorities failed to appear at the hearing.
The Delaware Department of Justice and Gov. Matt Meyer’s office later pointed the blame at Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry – though their explanations differed.
A spokeswoman for the Delaware DOJ said Meyer denied Louisiana’s extradition request because Landry did not sign the necessary warrant – rendering it deficient. She said the resulting dismissal of the proceeding does not prevent Louisiana from “providing a conforming application at any time.”
“So with these governors’ warrants, you have to have signatures from the respective states. The Louisiana governor’s signature was missing,” DOJ spokeswoman Caroline Harrison said.
But, in a separate statement to Spotlight Delaware, Meyer spokesman Nick Merlino indicated the state DOJ’s account was incorrect. He said the problem was not faulty paperwork from Louisiana, but that no extradition warrant was ever sent.
Meyer’s chief legal counsel Wilson Davis also sent a letter to the JP Court magistrate overseeing the case that reiterated that the governor had not “received an extradition demand for Mr. Tigani.”
Landry’s office did not respond to a request to comment on Friday.
Reached by phone, a spokeswoman for Ouachita Parish’s district attorney said prosecutors could not comment until they learn more details about what happened Friday in Delaware.
In the police affidavit, the Louisiana investigator suggested that Tigani threatened Echols because of the lawmaker’s criticisms of the real estate company, Medical Properties Trust, Inc., which leases land and buildings to hospitals.
Echols, who currently is running for Congress, has claimed that the company known as MPT had unjustly enriched itself alongside hospital executives in his district at the expense of patient care. Last year, he also introduced legislation that would more tightly regulate the medical real estate industry.
Police noted that Tigani — who has served as a vice president at the commercial real estate company, Newmark — has also heavily promoted MPT ‘s stock on social media.
Officials from MPT previously told Mother Jones magazine, which has reported extensively on this topic, that “it is false and irresponsible” to suggest the company has any relationship with Tigani.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms threats of violence of any kind,” MPT officials told Mother Jones.
Tigani’s Delaware attorney, Thomas A. Foley, did not return a call seeking comment for this story.
