Famed filmmaker, Roman Polanski was arrested Saturday as he flew into Zurich, Swizterland to attend the Zurich Film Festival.  He faces possible extradition to the United States stemming from a 1977 case where he plead guilty of having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Polanski avoided any prison time because he skipped town after entering his guilty plea in 1978.  The U.S. has been actively working on getting him back to face sentence, but they actually stepped up the worldwide efforts beginning in 2005.

Polanski had asked the California courts to overturn the case because of his claims that the presiding judge worked out a plea agreement then reneged on it.  The judge is now deceased.

The victim, Samathan Geimer, actually supported Polanski request for dismissal in hopes that the case would finally come to an end.

There was a valid arrest request from the U.S. to Swiss authorities, according to the ministry spokesman, Guido Balmer, who gave verification to the Associate Press.  Polanski’s attorney also told the AP that it was “too early to know” if the filmmaker would be extradicted.

Polanski was scheduled to receive an honorary award at the film festival.