My name is Byron McLaughlin.
I was born in North Hollywood, California, the United States, on September 29th, 1954. I am a US citizen who has been living a peaceful, unassuming, and modest life in Vietnam since 1999.
I decided to create this blog to share the truth about my life in Vietnam today and to talk about the sports shoe case that occurred in the United States in 1989. In particular, I would like to explain that I am not a fugitive from Justice. I am a person who simply made mistakes 37 years ago, and I have been atoning ever since.
Over the years, I have read online stories stating that I pleaded guilty to money laundering but fled the United States before being sentenced. Some people seem to believe that I had been living near Cannes, France, for years and later moved from that spot, while my whereabouts are now unknown.
Let me tell you this is all fake news. Let me set the record straight with the facts as they really happened.
My Baseball Career
Since I was 9 years old, I dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player, and yes, it is true: I made the major leagues and pitched for nearly 5 years. However, my stats prove that I was simply not good enough to make a real career as a major league baseball pitcher. Nevertheless, I somehow achieved my life’s goal by reaching the big leagues, and now, 40 years later, I can honestly admit I was just a mediocre talent.
It’s true, I had a stubbornness that clouded my thinking because of an overwhelming desire to become a major league baseball pitcher. I didn’t consider the importance of a proper education and preparing myself for the real world.
1984: Starting a New Path after My Baseball Career Ended
In the late 1970s and early 80s, big league baseball players were poorly paid. Thus, when my baseball career ended in 1984, I found myself without resources and no real job opportunities. Most importantly, I had only a high school education to fall back on.
In early 1986, after my professional baseball career ended, I took a job as a general import and export clerk for a small company in San Diego, California. In July 1986, Mexico signed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade with the United States, thereby opening its markets to trade liberalization and imported goods, creating a massive opportunity for everyone to sell general goods in the Mexican market. Before actually engaging in the selling of grey market sPort shoes in Mexico, I consulted with a trademark attorney in San Diego, California who advised me that so long as the shoes were coming from factories in Korea who actually produced the genuine original shoes, and the shoes that had slight blemishes were in fact real grey market shoes, were shipped directory from Korea to Mexico without coming on to US territory. I was not acting illegally at all, and that’s where the grey-market sports shoe business started for me.
What (Really) Happened to the Shoes Business
In December 1989, the US Attorney’s office arrested me. According to the indictment, I was arrested for trafficking in counterfeit goods and causing a fraudulent transport manifest entry document to be used involving 40 cartons of Vans sport shoes (400 pairs). U.S. Customs seized them at the Nogales border crossing on August 4th, 1989. The total value was USD 4,900.00 (four thousand nine hundred ninety dollars).
In April 1991, I pleaded guilty to two counts under U.S.C. 545 and 371 before the Honorable U.S. District Judge William Browning of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.
On May 20th, 1991, I was sentenced to 5 years of probation by the Arizona District Court, pursuant to Judgment Case Number CR-89-414-TUC-WDB. In addition, I was ordered to pay USD 389,995.08 (Three hundred eighty nine thousand nine hundred ninety-five United States dollars and eight cents) that had been seized at the time of my arrest. This money would be forfeited to Reebok.
The Truth
The idea that I pleaded guilty to the money laundering charges, then proceeded to post bail before being sentenced, and then escaped overseas is totally incorrect. The rumor that I had fled to France and my current whereabouts are unknown is also completely untrue. This is just fake news.
What I (Really) Did Since 1991
In July 1991, after the Tucson probation department refused to allow me to travel to go see my wife and child and decided to travel to France, anyway and this was undoubtedly a huge mistake here, as I lacked the common sense to stay in the United States and do my best to convince the probation office to allow me to see them on a periodic time table.
So, from 1991 to 1997, I lived in Mandelieu-la-Napoule, near Cannes, France. In 1993, I obtained a 10-year French residency card. As I was deeply worried about and caring for my French wife and our child (born in 1989). In retrospect, I lacked the foresight and the maturity to see into the future. Besides, I should never leave the United States under any circumstances. During this time, I set up a small trading company in Reunion Island (France), taught myself French, and became an importer of frozen seafood from Vietnam.
From 1992 to 1994, I contacted and met several times with staff at the U.S. Embassy in Marseille. I asked them to please find a solution to help me obtain a new US passport. The claim that my whereabouts were unknown, as reported by several media outlets, is entirely false.
In 1998, I travelled to Vietnam and decided to enter the frozen fish export sector. I lived full-time in HCMC. During this time, I taught myself to become a seafood and fish oil processing engineer.
In 2002, I was hired as the Production Manager at the USPC seafood factory in Binh Duong Province, and since then, I dedicated my life to working as a seafood processing engineer. I also focused on self-learning in the marine fish oil processing industry, a field that demands technical knowledge and hands-on experience.
The Resolution of My Case
On May 16th, 2012, the US District Court in Tucson, Arizona, issued an order CR 89-414-TUC – RCC signed by the Honorable Rainer C. Collins, a US District Judge for the US District Court in Tucson, Arizona.
This order states that the probation violation against defendant Byron McLaughlin was discharged, and the arrest warrant for that violation was thereby quashed. All charges against Mr. McLaughlin were dismissed.
On September 13th, 2019, I was issued a 10-year validity United States passport by the U.S. Embassy in HCMC, Vietnam.
On September 13th, 2019, I was also issued a United States of America passport card valid for 10 years by the U.S. Embassy in HCMC, Vietnam.
The U.S. State Department or the U.S. Embassy would certainly not issue a valid U.S. passport to a person who is an active fugitive and wanted by authorities. A U.S. passport is essential for open, unrestricted travel. Obtaining a regular US passport requires proof of legal status and a search of the FBI database. Hence, U.S. consulates worldwide will refuse a passport application if they discover that the applicant is a wanted criminal.
Bottom Line
Of course, it pains me to read online articles about the sports shoes case that occurred 37 years ago. The idea that I am an active fugitive is simply not true.
Reflections at age 72, living a modest, peaceful existence in Vietnam after dedicating the last 27 years of my life to becoming a seafood and fish oil processing engineer, I have found this experience very positive.
Future
I am thankful to be still healthy and now looking back on my life and the decisions I made, I must admit that I lacked a controlled discipline from an early age and if I had been correctly directed toward learning and focused on education, and if I had only studied days and nights and made myself into a well-educated and properly mannered person with the utmost respect for humanity, I am positive my life would have been taken another direction.
If you want to contact me, feel free to use this form.