Eric Volz (born May 19, 1979) is an American entrepreneur, author, and the managing director of The David House Agency, an international crisis resource agency based in Los Angeles. The New York Times recognized Volz as a highly sought crisis manager. He specializes in strategy for international show trials and other complex political and legal situations abroad.
After his own high-profile wrongful imprisonment case, Volz formed the David House Agency. He was sentenced to a 30-year prison term in Nicaragua following his wrongful conviction for the November 2006 rape and murder of ex-girlfriend Doris Ivania Jiménez in San Juan del Sur.
An appellate court overturned the conviction on December 17, 2007, and Volz was released from prison four days later. He left Nicaragua immediately and went into hiding in an unknown location because of death threats and over concerns for his physical safety. His experience would become the foundation for his life’s work. In an interview with The New York Times, Volz stated that he named the David House Agency after the biblical “shepherd who slew a giant and knew he was on the right side of the equation.”
Friends and supporters in both countries had insisted on Volz's innocence, claiming that the trial court ignored evidence, and that Volz was the victim of anti-gringo sentiment. Opponents in Nicaragua protested against his release due to what they perceived as special consideration as an American, pressure from the United States government, and accusations that Volz's family bribed the appellate court judges.
Volz’s involvement is visible in some of the highest-profile cases of recent years, including: Matthew and Grace Huang, Jason Puracal, the ‘American Hikers in Iran’ case, Amir Hekmati, Kenneth Bae and Amanda Knox.
Upon his return to the United States, Eric wrote a memoir about his experience, Gringo Nightmare: A Young American Framed for Murder in Nicaragua. The book was published by St. Martin's Press.
Early life
Volz was born in Northern California and is a former resident of Nashville, Tennessee. He is of Mexican descent and is fluent in Spanish. He received a degree in Latin American Studies from University of California, San Diego. Volz later moved to Managua, Nicaragua, where he launched El Puente ("The Bridge") magazine, advocating for smart growth and ecotourism.
Career
Volz’s international business career started in 2004 when he launched and published a bilingual conscious living and smart tourism magazine called El Puente (EP) in Nicaragua. He went on to establish an investment consulting practice and co-own a Century 21 franchise. After his experience of being wrongfully imprisoned in a foreign country, he authored his memoir Gringo Nightmare: A Young American Framed for Murder in Nicaragua, and became an established professional speaker.
After his conviction was overturned, Volz began to be approached by families of other wrongfully imprisoned individuals seeking guidance on how to navigate similar situations. After several years, what began as pro-bono advice evolved into a private consultancy in 2009. Due to a high volume of cases, Volz founded the David House Agency in 2011.
Referred to as its biggest victory so far, the David House Agency (along with the California Innocence Project) worked on behalf of Matthew and Grace Huang, an American couple of Asian descent from Los Angeles living in Qatar— accused of fatally abusing their adopted daughter who suffered from an eating disorder and other health issues from her deprived upbringing in Ghana.
Volz assembled a defense that included evidence that the prosecution had faked a pathology report on the cause of the girl’s death. Volz's fight for the Huangs included repeated travels to the Middle East and Europe, where he engaged with Qatari government officials. He also pressed American diplomats in Washington and Qatar for their release. The Huangs were declared innocent on November 30, 2014, and in December of that year they returned to the United States.
Volz managed the case of Seattle resident Jason Puracal, who was wrongfully convicted of international drug trafficking and money laundering in Nicaragua and sentenced to 22 years in prison. Volz’s defense strategy included appearances on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 and a ruling from the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that Puracal’s detainment was in violation of international law and demanded his immediate release. Puracal’s release was ultimately secured after two years in prison.