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HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge Monday denied a motion from New York real estate heir Robert Durst that sought to delay his forced return to Pennsylvania to face federal gun charges connected to his re-arrest for his elderly neighbor's death.
U.S. District Judge Sim Lake's three-page ruling blocked a request by Durst's lawyers who wanted him to have an initial court appearance in Houston before his transfer to Pennsylvania.
In dismissing Durst's motion, the judge said relevant case law was contrary to Durst's claim.
"It's going to cost the taxpayers a lot of extra money," said Dick DeGuerin, Durst's lawyer. "It didn't need to. We could have dealt with this right here in Houston or in Galveston as we wanted to, as we thought we were doing. We wanted to deal with all of his problems at one time."
DeGuerin also repeated his contention that the continued prosecution of Durst was "because of vindictiveness, because of spite."
Galveston County District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk, who unsuccessfully prosecuted Durst for murder, told The Associated Press in an e-mail that the federal gun charges were not a result of vindictiveness but were a matter of not looking the other way.
"What justice would be served to the decedent's family by ignoring felony offenses simply because someone may cry out sore loser?" he said. "Using the same reasoning, should we really expect or demand that the federal authorities turn a blind eye to a now three-time convicted felon having admitted that he had committed federal weapons crimes?"
U.S. Attorney Michael Shelby said Durst has been accused of significant violations of federal firearms statutes.
"Today's ruling allows the government to immediately transfer Mr. Durst back to Pennsylvania where he will be required to answer those charges," he said.
Durst was set to be paroled Thursday after pleading guilty to state bond-jumping and evidence-tampering charges related to the death and dismemberment of Morris Black, 71, in Galveston three years ago.
But just before his anticipated release Thursday, U.S. marshals took Durst into custody and brought him to the federal detention center in Houston to await transfer to Pennsylvania on the gun charges.
The Marshals Service has said Durst is scheduled to be on a flight to Pennsylvania this week.
Durst was acquitted nearly a year ago of murder in the death of Black but remained in the Galveston County Jail on the bond-jumping and evidence-tampering charges. As part of an agreement, he pleaded guilty last month to all three charges in exchange for a five-year sentence. He was given credit for the nearly three years he had served, making him eligible for parole.
In the Pennsylvania indictment, issued Thursday and unsealed on Friday, Durst faces two charges for having a firearm while he was a fugitive from justice and while he was under indictment for a felony.
At his murder trial, Durst testified he accidentally shot Black in September 2001 as they struggled for a gun in Durst's apartment. He said he panicked, cut up the body and dumped the pieces in Galveston Bay. All the pieces were recovered except for Black's head.
Durst left Galveston, about 50 miles southeast of Houston, but returned and was arrested in October 2001. He posted bond and ran again, then was caught six weeks later shoplifting in a Pennsylvania grocery store. In his rental car, police found two .38-caliber revolvers, a speed loader and 86 rounds of ammunition.
If convicted on the gun charges, he faces a maximum of 15 years in prison, three years of supervised released and a $500,000 fine.
The eccentric millionaire's family runs The Durst Organization, a privately held billion-dollar New York real estate company. | 
