Darrin Stewart Wednesday waived the right to contest his extradition back to Cowley County from North Dakota, where he was arrested over the weekend on a felony theft warrant issued in this county.
Stewart, 44, is former owner of Total Entertainment Group, a now-defunct company that once provided staging and lighting for the Winfield Country Roundup.
Local authorities now have 10 days to facilitate Stewart’s return to Cowley County. Sheriff Don Read said his office would make arrangements with an extradition service to have the suspect transported here.
On Friday, local authorities were informed that Stewart was arrested at the Pembina Port of Entry at the Canadian border. Law enforcement officials here have known for some time that he had returned to Canada, his home country.
Few details are available regarding the theft Stewart is accused of because the case is under seal in Cowley County Dist. Court.
Stewart left Winfield in 2008, and presumably never returned, after being accused of sexual assault at that summer’s Country Roundup music festival. Organizers of the show asked police to keep Stewart away from the concert venue once he bonded out.
The theft warrant was issued in March of this year, according to law enforcement officials, but no details of the case have been made public thus far.
Bond in the case has been set at $50,000.
Stewart will be entitled to a court appearance once he arrives in Winfield.