Joran van der Sloot Pleads Not Guilty to Extortion and Fraud Charges in Birmingham Courtroom

Joran van der Sloot, the prime suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway, pleaded not guilty on Friday to extortion and fraud charges in a Birmingham courtroom.

Van der Sloot, a Dutch national, was extradited to the United States on Thursday from Peru, where he is serving a 28-year prison sentence after confessing to killing a Peruvian woman. U.S. prosecutors allege that in 2010, van der Sloot reached out to Beth Holloway, Natalee’s mother, seeking $250,000 to disclose the location of the young woman’s body.

Van der Sloot was arraigned before a federal judge in Birmingham, not far from the suburb where Holloway grew up, in his first court appearance in the case. He is accused of attempting to extort money from Holloway’s mother and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Van der Sloot confessed to killing 21-year-old Stephany Flores, exactly five years after Holloway’s disappearance, in his hotel room in Lima. He was transferred from a jail in Lima to Birmingham on Thursday.

The case has been ongoing for more than a decade, and the FBI has been investigating the disappearance of Holloway since 2005. A trial date has not yet been set.