Wife of man imprisoned in Bolivia pleads for help from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Miriam Unger, wife of Jacob Ostreicher, an American who has been jailed in Bolivia since last June, is pleading for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to help her husband.

“Secretary of State Hillary Clinton needs to get involved here and I know that she can help my husband," Unger tells Soledad O’Brien on Starting Point today. "He needs to come home; he is ill and there will be irreversible damage if this is not escalated on a higher level.”

Ostreicher, a 53 year old flooring contractor from Brooklyn, N.Y, was arrested by Bolivian authorities under the suspicion that the money he used to invest in a rice business was drug money.

No evidence or charges have been brought against Ostreicher but under Bolivian law, people can be incarcerated for up to 18 months without charge.

At one hearing, Osteicher’s defense presented more than 1,000 translated documents that showed the source of all of his investment and proved that the money came from legitimate sources.

A judge ordered Osteicher released on bond from the Palmasola prison in Santa Cruz. However, after his family paid, the judge unexpectedly rescinded his own decision.

Jacob Ostreicher is nearing one month on a hunger strike to call attention to his case.