Chandra Levy suspect moved to Okla.

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By Nafeesa Syeed ASSOCIATED PRESS

A Salvadoran immigrant facing charges in the slaying of Washington intern Chandra Levy has been moved to Oklahoma from a federal prison in California, officials said Friday.

Ingmar Guandique, 27, was transferred Thursday from the Adelanto, Calif., prison where he was serving a 10-year sentence for an assault conviction, Federal Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Felicia Ponce said. He was taken to the bureau's federal transfer center in Oklahoma City.

Miss Ponce could not say where Guandique was headed or how long he would be in Oklahoma.

"Where an inmate is going to be held is not public information until they arrive," she said.

Metropolitan Police issued an arrest warrant March 3 for Guandique, accusing him of sexually assaulting and killing Miss Levy on a trail in Rock Creek Park in May 2001. Her remains were found in the park a year later. Guandique faces a first-degree-murder charge in the death of the Modesto, Calif., native.

Authorities have said Guandique was expected to be brought to Washington within 30 to 60 days of the arrest warrant.

Channing Phillips, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District, said Friday that he did not know when Guandique would arrive.

D.C. police spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump said the U.S. Marshals Service is handling Guandique's transfer to the District.

"We don't have a set date as to when he will arrive in D.C.," Miss Crump said.

Officials with the U.S. Marshals Service could not be immediately reached for comment.

Guandique was sentenced in 2002 for attacking two women in the same park around the time of Miss Levy's disappearance.

Maria Hawilo, Guandique's public defender, said she had no comment.