Jason Puracal ‘deeply moved’ by your support
Sep 19, 2012, 8:57 AM | Updated: 2:18 pm
In this undated family photo, Jason Puracal is shown with his wife and son. The three have returned to Tacoma following Puracal's release from a Nicaraguan prison.
After nearly two years imprisoned in Nicaragua, Jason Puracal has returned home to Tacoma and looks forward to building a life in the Seattle-area.
Puracal, 35, was freed from a Nicaraguan prison last week after an appellate panel overturned his conviction and 22-year sentence on charges that he laundered drug money.
“I’m just ecstatic to be back with friends and family and back in the Pacific Northwest now so I can finally relax,” he said Wednesday morning. “Right now, we just want to spend as much time together as possible.”
Puracal said he is treasuring “each little moment.”
His family plans to attend the Puyallup Fair before it closes on Sunday.
He thanked the hundreds of supporters from the Seattle-area who wrote to him in prison.
“I’m deeply moved by the people that were supporting me here in the Pacific Northwest,” he said. “I feel I owe Seattle so much and so I plan to stick around … I can never repay the love that you guys have shown me, but I’m going to do my best to try.”
Puracal said he plans to attend the Bainbridge Graduate Institute for an MBA with an emphasis in sustainability, and then return to his alma mater at the University of Washington to study sustainable urban development.
His son and wife also plan to attend school in the U.S.
