The suspect charged with attempting to destroy a Detroit bound flight on Christmas Day is no longer being held at the University of Michigan Health System, according to a statement released by hospital officials Sunday afternoon.
According to the statement, the suspect “has been moved out of U-M Health System facilities to a secure location.”
Miriam Siefer, the suspect’s attorney, told The Associated Press on Sunday that her client is now at a prison in Milan about 50 miles away from Detroit after being released from the hospital.
The United States Department of Justice charged Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on Saturday with willfully attempting to destroy or wreck an aircraft.
Siefer, the chief federal defender in Detroit, said she hadn’t spoken in-depth talk yet with Abdulmutallab since he was charged Saturday. She called the charges serious but declined further comment, according to the AP.
On Saturday, U.S. District Judge Paul Borman read Abdulmutallab the charges against him in a conference room at the University Medical Center, according to the AP. Abdulmutallab was receiving treatment at the center for burns.
Abdulmutallab faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
According to an affidavit, Abdulmutallab had an explosive device attached to his body, which he tried to detonate as Northwest Flight 253 descended toward Detroit Metro Airport. When Abdulmutallab set off the device, it sparked a fire instead of an explosion.
Agents wheeled Abdulmutallab, who was wearing a green hospital robe and blue hospital socks, into the hospital conference room on Saturday, according to the AP. Part of the skin on his thumb was burned off and he had bandages on his right wrist and left thumb.
Borman asked Abdulmutallab if he understood the charges against him, Abdulmutallab responded in English saying, “Yes, I do.”
Borman assigned Abdulmutallab a public defender and set a detention hearing and preliminary exam for Jan. 8. The hearing in the hospital conference room lasted 20 minutes.
Siefer told the AP on Sunday that she is trying to find a legal basis to oppose the government’s request for a DNA sample during a different hearing on Monday. Abdulmutallab won’t be present at that hearing.
— The Associated Press and Daily Managing News Editor Jillian Berman contributed to this report.