Tonight, Duane "Dog" Chapman and his family spoke out on the recent legal issues they've had with the federal governments of both the US and Mexico. And it's pretty scary.

Federal marshalls surrounded his house in the early morning hours, armed with guns and warrants for the three mens' arrests, on grounds of illegally transporting a criminal from Mexico to the US. Bounty hunting is illegal in Mexico. The official charges were "deprivation of liberties," referring to their 2003 capture of convicted serial rapist, Andrew Luster.

Luster was convicted, in absentia, of 86 (out of 87) counts of rape. When his belongings were seized, authorities found date-rape drugs, videotape equipment, and a bizarre journal, which included the heading, "Payback," under which were the names of many people involved in the case(s) against him. Luster was brought back to the US and sentenced to 124 years in prison.

Otehr bounty hunters have spoken out against Dog's actions, as it is well-known that Mexico is off-limits to bounty hunters. Dog Chapman did not receive the bounty for capturing Luster due to this, but is adamant that he did the right thing. And I have to agree.

The website I listed earlier was set up by friends of Luster's, and while it paints a very one-sided picture of the trial, evidence, and sentencing, and the media coverage and general trial paints quite the opposite, the facts remain that Luster was convicted of the crimes (even if it was in absentia), corroborating evidence was found in his possession at the time of his capture, and he fled to Mexico and refused to return to stand trial -- all of which are pretty compelling indicators of his guilt.

There is the possibility that Dog was "traded" to the Mexican government, in return for a druglord the American feds wanted extradited to this country to stand trial. While US officials deny this, much like Luster's, the circumstantial evidence is pretty damning.

The thing which resonated most with me was something Duane Chapmans' wife, Beth, said: 'This is not the message we need to be sending people -- that if you commit a crime, you can run to Mexico and there's nothing anyone can do about it.'

And really, that's the bigger picture here.

The other thing is that Dog and his family won't last long in a Mexican prison -- any prison, for that matter -- and that's just not right. Even a fine seems extreme, given that he brought a fugitive to justice -- a violent, serial rapist who fled his own country and had the money to keep running for the rest of his life, had Dog not flaunted the law and captured him. In short, Luster would have gotten away with his crimes, scot-free, were it not for Dog's capturing him and insisting on bringing him in. And he didn't even get the bounty for it!

One of Luster's victims, Tanya Doe, has set up a fund for the Chapmans, to help with defense costs and other matters.