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 Forty-Nine
Year Old Norman Roberts was arrested by US Marshals with the Gulf Coast
Violent Offenders Task Force in Houston at 4:00 p.m. today. Roberts was
Wanted by Louisiana’s Office of Probation and Parole for violating his
conditions of parole. Roberts’ Warrant was dated November 8, 2004.
Norman Roberts caused a vehicle accident on Hwy. 90 on April 24, 2003
that resulted in two deaths – Marie Thibodeaux and Richard LaFleur.
Roberts was the driver of an 18-wheeler that caused the accident. He was
found to be under the influence of narcotics at the time of the crash
along with having pornography playing in the truck while prostitutes
were engaged in sexual activity. Roberts pled guilty to two counts of
Negligent Homicide on February 9, 2004 and was Sentenced to five years
of Hard Labor with four of those years suspended (on each count, to run
consecutive). Roberts was released from custody on April 22, 2004 and in
August, 2004 his Parole was transferred to Texas. During September, 2004
Roberts could not be located by his Parole Officer and in November, 2004
a warrant was issued against Roberts for violating his Parole.
Roberts was located by the Harris County Sheriffs Office in April, 2007,
but Roberts was able to slip through the back door of his place of
employment and was not arrested.
In July, 2008 Louisiana Probation and Parole requested assistance from
the US Marshals Fugitive Task Force in Lafayette in locating Roberts.
Task Force Officers (TFOs) in Lafayette worked in conjunction with TFO’s
in Houston, but at that time we were unable to locate Roberts. However,
approximately a week ago, new information was developed and TFOs learned
of Roberts’ approximate location in Houston. This afternoon, US Marshals
in Houston were able finally determine Roberts’ exact location and
arrest him without incident. Roberts was arrested on 6900 block of
Martin Luther King Drive, Houston at a used car dealership.
Tommy Hancock, the United States Marshal for the Western District of
Louisiana, said, “The coordinated effort of all law enforcement to bring
dangerous criminals to justice ensures that the streets and
neighborhoods of Louisiana are a safer place to raise our children.”
Annually, investigations carried out by the U.S. Marshals result in the
apprehension of approximately 34,000 federal fugitives. More federal
fugitives are arrested by Marshals than all other federal agencies
combined.
The Western District of Louisiana’s Task Force is a team comprised of
law enforcement officers from agencies throughout the Western part of
Louisiana (Shreveport, Monroe, Lake Charles, Alexandria, Opelousas, and
Lafayette). The task force objective is to seek out and arrest federal,
state, and local fugitives, mainly those with violent criminal histories
to include sex offenders. In 2008, U.S. Marshals task forces arrested
more than 73,000 state and local fugitives on felony charges.
Additional information about the U.S. Marshals can be found at
http://www.usmarshals.gov.
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America’s Oldest Federal Law Enforcement Agency |
