As his case meanders through the Bolivian justice system, an American businessman imprisoned there for a year without formal charges is finding support from a leading human rights advocate in the U.S. Congress. 

Jacob Ostreicher, a 53-year-old flooring contractor from Brooklyn, New York, has been held at the notorious Palmasola prison in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, since June 2011 on suspicions of money laundering. 

Ostreicher and his family have claimed from the beginning that he is innocent, and presented a judge what they say is evidence that all of the money invested in a rice growing operation came from legal sources. But repeated delays have kept him imprisoned. 

The case is now getting more attention in Washington, as U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican, has become a vocal advocate for him. 

Smith traveled to Bolivia this week to meet with Ostreicher in prison and to accompany him to a hearing Monday. 

At that hearing, the judge transferred the case to a higher court, a move likely to create further delays. 

"Justice delayed is justice denied," Smith said in a statement. "Jacob has been cooperative, patient to the extreme. There is no evidence offered against him. The rule of law must prevail in Bolivia. Innocent people must have a path to justice. He must be released." 

Ostreicher is nearly two months into a hunger strike to protest his imprisonment. 

Smith reported that Ostreicher appeared "frail and anguished." 

The lawmaker's trip follows a hearing last week before the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights, which Smith chairs. 
Did the representative go to Bolivia?
Smith traveled to Bolivia this week to meet with Ostreicher in prison and to accompany him to a hearing Monday. 