March 25, 2008

ICE removes suspect wanted for murder in Mexico

PHILADELPHIA - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) returned a Mexican fugitive wanted for a homicide in his home country. He had been taken into federal custody under a false identity, but through international cooperation, was identified sent home to face justice.

Gregorio Delgado-Munoz, was serving a 26-month sentence at the Federal Correctional Institute McKean, in Bradford, Pa., for a September 2007 conviction. The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts had convicted him for illegal re-entry after deportation under an alias - Guillermo Capatello-Rico. An INTERPOL warrant issued from Cocula Jalisco, Mexico, indicated Delgado-Munoz was, in fact, a man wanted for murder.

"Returning this fugitive to Mexico is a prime example of how ICE, the Marshals Service, Mexican authorities and INTERPOL work together to ensure that international fugitives are returned to their home country to face justice," said Thomas Decker, field office director for ICE's Office of Detention and Removal in Philadelphia. "This dangerous suspect brazenly used a false identity to avoid prosecution in his home country. In the end, the law caught up to him."

Delgado-Munoz has been removed from the country twice before in 2000 and 2005. In 2006, he was turned over to ICE by local authorities in Boston, which led to his conviction and prison term. The suspect was flown from Harrisburg, Pa., to Laredo, Texas, where he was subsequently turned over to Mexican authorities at the border without incident.

Since 2005 ICE has removed more than 786,686 aliens nationwide. Of those, 14,805 have been removed from Pennsylvania, including 7,700 with criminal records. Last year, the ICE Criminal Alien Program filed immigration violation charges on approximately 164,000 aliens serving time in jails and removed approximately 95,000 criminal aliens.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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