AKRON, Ohio ? Texas authorities allowed a man now linked to a deadly Craigslist robbery scheme to be temporarily released from an Ohio jail earlier this year.
The Texas Parole Authority initially requested that Richard Beasley be held for violating his burglary conviction parole after he was arrested in Ohio on drug-dealing charges.
But records show Texas was only interested in bringing Beasley back if he were convicted in the drug case.
Bill Holland, a spokesman for the Summit County Sheriff's Office, told The Associated Press on Thursday that Texas agreed to lift its hold on Beasley until the drug case was resolved.
Beasley is now a suspect in the deaths of two men and the nonfatal shooting of a third man who answered a phony Craigslist ad for a cattle farm job.
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Welsh-Huggins reported from Columbus.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
A suspect in a deadly Craigslist robbery plot was wheeled into court in an unrelated case Thursday, his head bobbing rhythmically, and he later ignored questions about the mounting body count and his relationship with a teen murder suspect.
Richard Beasley, unshaved and dressed in a white and gray striped jail outfit, didn't speak and kept his head down as Summit County Common Pleas Judge Tammy O'Brien revoked his bond on a drug-trafficking charge.
The legal problems faced by Beasley, a self-styled chaplain and youth mentor, are mounting: His attorney said a prostitution case involving the 52-year-old Beasley and a 17-year-old boy would be upgraded with a racketeering charge Friday.
The drug and prostitution cases in Akron are unrelated to a widening Craigslist homicide investigation.
Investigators say someone trying to lure robbery victims posted a bogus ad on Craigslist touting a cattle farm job in southeast Ohio.
Authorities have linked two bodies and the shooting of a man who survived to the scheme, which targeted single, out-of-work men in their late 40s or early 50s. The investigators heading up the Craigslist inquiry also found a third body but have yet to link it to the case.
A 16-year-old boy, Brogan Rafferty of nearby Stow, faces juvenile charges of aggravated murder, complicity to aggravated murder, attempted murder and complicity to attempted murder in the death of one man and the shooting of another.
The complaint against Rafferty says he participated in the crimes with Beasley, who has not been charged in the Craigslist case.
Beasley walked into court but later complained that he felt ill, and he was wheeled by deputies before the judge. He ignored reporters' questions outside court on whether there are more buried bodies and about his relationship with Rafferty.
His attorney, Rhonda Kotnik, said later that Beasley's mother is worried that he has displayed symptoms of a stroke. Beasley is taking medication for back pain, Kotnik said.
His emotional state "is distraught. He's alert, he's in pain because of his issues, his back issues," she said.
The bond revocation in the drug case for failing to appear for a Sept. 6 trial and the $1 million bond in the prostitution case allow authorities to hold Beasley as the Craigslist investigation continues.
A 15-count count indictment returned Wednesday charges Beasley with promoting prostitution and, in the case of a 17-year-old boy, compelling prostitution. The teen's involvement allegedly occurred from early November 2009 through late December 2010.
Kotnik said Beasley would fight the drug charge. He claims he was entrapped by an informant who was involved in a drug deal.
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