NY- A Queens photographer who hobnobbed with politicians, and posed with celebrities such as Marc Anthony and Al Pacino, is awaiting extradition from Colombia on federal heroin and child-porn charges after jumping $250,000 bail here, sources said.
Federal officials late last year charged Michaelangelo Pinzon, 33 – a k a Michael Star – with conspiring to import heroin, production of child porn and flight to avoid prosecution.
It was a shocking turnaround for Pinzon, who was given a citation at a July 20 Colombian Independence Day ceremony inside City Hall by City Councilman Hiram Monserrate.
Monserrate claimed to have honored him only after being approached by several charity groups for which Pinzon worked.
“Members of the community said, ‘We should do something for him,’ so we gave him a citation,” said Monserrate.
Pinzon was busted Dec. 22 after accepting a package of heroin shipped from Bolivia, the sources said.
Federal agents also seized sexually explicit photographs of underage teenaged girls.
Pinzon fled to Colombia after being freed on bail.