Lafayette, LA – Friday evening, members of the U.S. Marshals Violent Offender Task Force (VOTF) with assistance from Acadia Parish Sheriff’s Office, Louisiana State Police, and Church Point Police arrested Twenty-Four year old Steven Guillory. Guillory was Wanted by the Lafayette Police Department for First Degree Murder which allegedly occurred on June 23rd off Frank Street in Lafayette. Shortly after detectives secured a warrant against Guillory they requested the assistance of VOTF to locate him. Guillory was located at a “friend’s” residence in Church Point and arrested without incident.

This afternoon at approximately 12:30 p.m. Willie Dean (20 Years Old) and Xavier Freeman (20 Years Old) were arrested by the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office and VOTF pursuant to a traffic stop. Both suspects are Wanted by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina for 1st Degree Murder and Armed Robbery Charges. These charges stem from a June 18th incident; the suspects then fled to Louisiana and the US Marshals from North Carolina contacted VOTF Lafayette Friday morning. VOTF Lafayette immediately began coordinating with investigators in North Carolina and after several hours of surveillance learned that both suspects were traveling in a particular vehicle. That information was passed to the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office who had been assisting with this case; they sent marked units and ultimately conducted a felony stop on the vehicle. Both suspects were arrested without incident.

All three suspects were booked in the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center; Dean and Freeman are awaiting extradition back to North Carolina.

Henry Whitehorn, the US 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.”

The Western District of Louisiana’s Violent Offender Task Force (VOTF) in Lafayette is a team comprised of full-time law enforcement officers from the Lafayette City Marshals, Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office, Lafayette Police Department, St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office, St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office, and Louisiana Probation and Parole. Further, VOTF Lafayette calls upon part-time TFO’s and partners throughout its eight parish area. In 2010 VOTF Lafayette closed approximately 500 Warrants, most of which were violent felony offenses. US Marshals Task Forces throughout the United States arrested more than 118,100 fugitives on felony charges.

Additional information about the U.S. Marshals Service can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov.

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