US doctor facing fraud claims at home is arrested on Italian mountain after 5 years on the run

Fugitive US doc’s trail ends with arrest in Italy

ROME — U.S. prosecutors are working to extradite an Indiana doctor arrested in Italy after five years on the run from fraud claims at home.

Acting U.S. attorney for Indiana’s Northern District David Capp said late Thursday extradition proceedings for 46-year-old Mark Weinberger could take more than a year.

An attorney representing 60 families accusing Weinberger of negligence said the Merrillville doctor could be returned by spring if he waives extradition.

Lawyer Kenneth Allen says a U.S.-Italy treaty requires extradition proceedings to begin within 40 days.

Weinberger was arrested this week as he hid on a snowy mountain in northern Italy. Police say he stabbed himself in the neck as he was taken into custody and is hospitalized.