Fugitive Sex Offender Captured in Mexico After Seven Years on the Run

 

Tucson, AZ – Last night, Deputy U.S. Marshals took custody of Manuel Mauro Rivera-Ramirez, age 30, from law enforcement officials in the Republic of Mexico at the Port of Entry in El Paso, Texas.

In September 2008, a warrant was issued by the Pima County Superior Court charging Rivera-Ramirez with violating his conditions of probation after absconding from supervision. Rivera-Ramirez was on probation due to a conviction for sexual assault in 2006. In that offense, Rivera-Ramirez sexually assaulted a female known to him by forcing her to engage in sexual conduct while she was intoxicated. In December 2014, Pima County Adult Probation determined Rivera-Ramirez had fled to Mexico and requested the assistance of U.S. Marshals Service Arizona WANTED Violent Offender Task Force to locate him in Mexico. Deputy U.S. Marshals immediately began to work with law enforcement officials in Mexico to locate Rivera-Ramirez. During the course of the investigation, it was discovered Rivera-Ramirez was working as a juvenile guidance counselor for a church in Ciudad Chihuahua, Mexico in an effort to maintain his fugitive status and continue to evade U.S. authorities.

On February 23, 2015, Rivera-Ramirez was located and detained by Mexican law enforcement officials in Ciudad Chihuahua without incident, pending deportation to the United States. He was then transported to Juarez, Mexico where he was deported by Mexican Immigration Officials and transferred to the custody of Deputy U.S. Marshals from the Western District of Texas, El Paso office, at the Stanton Street Port of Entry. Rivera-Ramirez was transported to the El Paso County Detention Center where he is being held pending his extradition to Arizona. He is pending additional charges for failing to register as a sex offender.

“The United States Marshals Service works tirelessly to apprehend sex offenders,” said David P. Gonzales, United States Marshal for the District of Arizona. “Rivera-Ramirez’s capture was a direct result of numerous domestic and international law enforcement agencies working together.”

The federal, state, and local agencies that comprise the Arizona WANTED Violent Offender Task Force (Tucson Metro Division) include: U.S. Marshals Service; Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Arizona Department of Public Safety; Pima County Adult Probation Office; Arizona Department of Corrections; Tucson Police Department; U.S. Border Patrol; Pima County Sheriff’s Department; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The United States Marshals Service is the nation’s oldest federal law enforcement agency. Annually, U.S. Marshals arrest more than 50 percent of all federal fugitives and serve more federal warrants than all other federal agencies combined.