Van der Sloot ‘will’ face justice: Fuentes
Former FBI Assistant Director Tom Fuentes discusses developments in the charges against Joran van der Sloot in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, is expected to take a plea deal after being charged in an extortion plot involving the Holloway family.
Natalee Holloway was 18 years old when she took a senior trip to Aruba in May 2005 with Mountain Brook High School. Natalee Holloway was last seen leaving a bar with van der Sloot, but she was never found. In January 2012, a judge legally declared Natalee Holloway dead after a request from her father.
Van der Sloot is facing charges of extortion and wire fraud in the U.S. after allegedly attempting to sell Beth Holloway, Natalee's mother, information about the location of her daughter's body.
Beth Holloway's lawyer, John Q. Kelly, now tells Fox News Digital that van der Sloot is expected to take a plea deal, which is conditioned on him releasing details on how Natalee Holloway died and what happened to her body.
Joran van der Sloot and Natalee Holloway (Shelby County Jail | AP)
The lawyer also told Fox News Digital that the search for Natalee Holloway's body is over.
"It [the plea agreement] was conditioned upon Mr. van der Sloot revealing details of how Natalee died and how her body was disposed of," Kelly first told "Today."
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A plea and sentencing hearing is scheduled for van der Sloot on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. in a Birmingham, Alabama, federal courtroom.
According to federal prosecutors, van der Sloot tried to extort the family for $250,000 – $25,000 upfront for the information and the rest to be paid once Natalee Holloway's body was positively identified.
JORAN VAN DER SLOOT CASE: PRIME NATALEE HOLLOWAY SUSPECT TO BE ARRAIGNED ON EXTORTION CHARGES
Beth Holloway arrives at court in Birmingham, Alabama, on June 9, 2023. (Dana Mixer for Fox News Digital )
However, van der Sloot lied to Beth Holloway about where her daughter's remains were located, according to U.S. prosecutors. The alleged extortion scheme took place between March 29, 2010, and May 17, 2010. He pleaded not guilty to the charges after a June hearing when he was temporarily transferred from Peru to the United States.
Beth Holloway is expected to give a statement following Wednesday's hearing.
NATALEE HOLLOWAY, SUSPECT JORAN VAN DER SLOOT: TIMELINE OF ALABAMA TEEN'S DEATH
Joran van der Sloot prepares to leave the airport in Lima, Peru, on June 8, 2023. (Col. Carlos López Aeda for Fox News Digital)
Van der Sloot then traveled to Peru and met Stephany Flores, 21, at a Lima casino owned by her father. Van der Sloot admitted to killing Flores, saying he murdered her on May 30, 2010, in a fit of anger after the 21-year-old found out he was connected to Natalee Holloway's disappearance.
WATCH: Joran van der Sloot arrives in US
The charges were filed by federal prosecutors in 2010, but Peruvian officials didn't agree to release van der Sloot into American custody until May this year.
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Beth Holloway, mother of Natalee Holloway, speaks during the opening of the Natalee Holloway Resource Center at the National Museum of Crime and Punishment in Washington, D.C., on June 8, 2010. (AP Photo / Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
He was originally sentenced to 28 years in prison for killing Flores, but more time was added because of a drug smuggling scandal in which he was involved while behind bars.
Once van der Sloot's federal case concludes, he will head back to Peru to finish his sentence for murdering Flores. After finishing his sentence in Peru, van der Sloot would then come to an American prison, if convicted.
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