Some Conviction Reinstated for Philly Researcher Who Covered Up for Friend

Some convictions reinstated in Michagan missing man case

An appeals court has overruled a Grand Rapids federal judge and reinstated some convictions in the case of a missing western Michigan retiree.

The decision Tuesday means Raogo Ouedraogo stands convicted of two conspiracy counts and will be sentenced for those crimes.

Ouedraogo was a researcher at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Prosecutors accused him of helping an old college pal kidnap 66-year-old Donald Dietz, who lived in Saranac in Ionia County.

Prosecutors said the motive was money. Dietz hasn't been seen since 2007 and is presumed dead.

A jury convicted Ouedraogo in 2011, but Judge Janet Neff threw out the verdict, saying the government's case was weak.

The main defendant, Rami Saba, is serving a prison sentence of more than 30 years.

Ouedraogo is listed as a co-author of a Jefferson Department of Medicine faculty paper on the vascular protective action of adiponectin.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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