l jail ward for failing to wear a mask in public has been indicted on felony charges. Prosecutors said Monday there was no evidence that Robert Daniels had exposed anyone to his multiple drug-resistant TB before he was quarantined in 2006, but they still charged him with two counts of unlawful introduction of disease or parasite.
County officials have been putting together a case to prove Daniels knowingly introduced a disease into the state, endangering others.
“We took our time looking at the evidence to make sure the evidence fit the crime,” said Sally Wells of the Maricopa County attorney’s office.
Daniels, who has American and Russian citizenship, was determined no longer to be contagious after undergoing lung surgery at a Denver hospital in September. He has been living in Russia since October.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Russian authorities did not know Daniels’ exact whereabouts on Monday but were looking for him.
“If he does come here, he’ll be arrested on these criminal violations,” the sheriff said.
In an interview with The Arizona Republic Monday, Daniels said the case demonstrates that the sheriff is a vindictive man.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Daniels said. “They don’t really have evidence. They can’t accuse me of anything unless there’s a person who got the disease from me.”
Daniels said he has recovered fully in Moscow.
“The TB is gone. I have no diseases whatsoever. If I had stayed in Arizona even a month longer, I’d probably be dead,” Daniels said.
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