Capture in Mexico is just the start of long road to justice for suspect in Wake deputy's murder
The U.S. Marshals Service on Friday said it is likely Alder Alfonso Marin-Sotelo, who is charged with the murder of a Wake County deputy, likely worked in tandem with his bunkmate at a Virginia jail to make an escape plan.
Inmates Marin-Sotelo and Bruce Callahan escaped Piedmont Regional Jail in Virginia on Sunday.
Marin-Sotelo was taken into custody Thursday by Mexican authorities in the state of Guerrero – more than 2,400 miles about 4 and a half days after he escaped the Virginia jail, the FBI said.
Callahan remained at large.
Both men had ties to North Carolina.
The younger Marin-Sotelo was in federal custody at Piedmont Regional Jail after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by an illegal alien.
Jail superintendent Jerry Townsend said Marin-Sotelo and Callahan, who escaped the jail on the same day, "manipulated the locking mechanism on the rear exit door."
Although the men escaped about 22 hours apart on Sunday, Larry Moltzan, chief deputy U.S. Marshal for the eastern district of North Carolina, said, "Given the manner of how they both escaped and it being so similar we have to reason that at some point they discussed something related to this."
Former FBI agent Chris Swecker told WRAL News that fugitives like Marin-Sotelo and Callahan use a "malignant social network" to move quickly, but that investigators also have deep connections that – in the case of Marin-Sotelo – led to the suspect's capture.
"This type of thing, people always slip up," he said. "They get desperate. They need money, they need transportation, they need a place to stay or hide out. Someone has to furnish that assistance.
"They are gonna get caught. The FBI and the (U.S.) Marshals are good at what they do."
Moltzan expressed confidence that Callahan will also be caught.
"There is no limit to the resources that we will bring as law enforcement as a whole," he said.
What's next? Extradition from Mexico can take time
The next step will be to see Alder Marin-Sotelo extradited back to the United States to face justice.
"From this point it becomes a matter of legal work between our government working with the government in Mexico and working through legal steps that it can be decided that someone can be extradited to the U.S.," said Larry Moltzan, chief deputy U.S. Marshal for the eastern district of North Carolina.
The United States and Mexico have an extradition treaty that dates from May 4, 1978, that provides for the return of those who have committed crimes and fled across the border from one country to the other. Prosecutors can choose to either:
- File a request for extradition to have the suspect returned to the country where they crime happened, or
- Seek prosecution of the offender in Mexico by Mexican authorities under Article 4 of the Mexican Federal Penal Code
In addition to the murder charge he faces in Byrd's shooting death, Marin-Sotelo will now face a federal charge linked to the escape, which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.
But extradition can take time, former District Attorney Dewey Hudson told WRAL News.
He prosecuted the case of Cesar Laurean, who was accused of killing a pregnant Marine comrade in December 2007 and burying her remains in a fire pit in his backyard. Laurean fled to Mexico immediately and was arrested there four months later.
"The Mexican government wouldn’t even search or apprehend Laurean until I agreed not to seek the death penalty," Hudson said.
"As district attorney, I never dreamed that I would eventually have to negotiate with a foreign country, but that is what I had to do."
Laurean was convicted in August 2010 of first-degree murder in the death of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
"It was a very lengthy process," Hudson said. "We had to basically present a mini-trial for the Mexican authorities and Mexican court system before they decided he could be extradited back to our country."
Moltzan doesn't expect any quick action on Marin-Sotelo's case.
"Nothing of this magnitude will happen overnight," he said.
