A former United States Marine pilot accused of unlawfully aiding the Chinese military will be extradited from Australia following a Federal Court decision.
Daniel Duggan, an Australian citizen and father of six,will be sent back to the US charged with four offences under the country’s law.
He is alleged to have committed arms trafficking and money laundering by conspiring with the Chinese military while at a South African training school in 2012.
Mr Duggan has denied the allegations against him.
He was arrested in Orange, country NSW, in 2022 at the request of US officials and is currently being held in a maximum security prison.
Supporters for Mr Duggan claim he was solely Australian citizen at the time of the alleged training and was no longer a citizen of the United States.
In the Canberra sitting of Federal Court on Thursday, Justice James Stellios ruled Mr Duggan would need to comply with the extradition order.
At a hearing before the court in October 2025, Mr Duggan’s legal team argued the decision to extradite was invalid; further claiming dual criminality – the concept that an alleged crime must be recognised as an offence in both the requesting and requested countries – did not apply.
Justice Stellios found dual criminality principles were inconsequential as they relied on irrelevant legal provisions.
He found there was no jurisdictional error made in the decision to extradite Mr Duggan.
If found guilty of the alleged offences, Mr Duggan faces a maximum of 65 years imprisonment in the United States.
Mr Duggan’s wife Saffrine Duggan expressed how her family had been impacted by the decision.
“It has been 1,273 days of our family suffering terrible trauma since Dan was arrested in a supermarket carpark after dropping our kids at school,” she said.
“Since that day Dan has been locked up in maximum security. He spent 19 months in solitary confinement.
“He has missed so much – first and last days of school, sporting events, birthdays, Christmases, and wedding anniversaries.
“We are an Aussie family who had our husband, father, son-in-law, our property and our feeling of safety stripped away from us.
“Dan was an ordinary Australian, lawfully going about his business in Australia when he was arrested by a foreign power.”
Ms Duggan said they would continue to fight for Mr Duggan’s safe release on Australian soil.
“Today does not end our search for justice, for fairness and for the sovereignty that the Australian public expect,” she said.
“We are very disappointed by this ruling, and we will consider our options carefully.
“But make no mistake – we will not give up.
“We will continue to advocate for Dan.”
Legal clerk for Mr Duggan, Lynn Stocker, spoke outside court following the ruling.
“The (Federal Court) decision was made on solely a legal point, the merits issue has always been with the government,” she said.
“Now it is a decision for the Prime Minister whether he wants to send an Australian citizen who has already been in prison for three and a half years into the hands of the Trump administration who has taken a close interest in this matter.”
