For Immediate Release

nmmw:  bad weekend for the bad guys

ALBUQUERQUE, NM –This weekend, two of the United States Marshals Service New Mexico’s Most Wanted were arrested in New Mexico.  Howard Allen was added to the Marshals Most Wanted in December 2012 and was arrested this weekend on DWI charges in Bloomfield, NM.  US Marshals received a tip that Allen had left his brother’s home on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation and was in route to Farmington, NM, 88 miles away.  The Marshals Service, South West Investigative Fugitive Team (SWIFT) task force, put a locate out on Allen along Highway 64.  Allen was stopped and arrested by the Bloomfield Police Department.  Allen is on probation and had an outstanding warrant for Failure to comply with Sex Offender Registration.  Allen was considered a violent sex offender and had fled from authorities in November of 2012.   

The persistence of Deputy United States Marshals led to Richard Aragon turning himself this past Sunday.  Deputy Marshals have been looking for Aragon over the past month.  Deputies spoke to Aragon’s family on several occasions and knocked on family doors every day over the last month.  Aragon was featured on New Mexico’s Most Wanted on February 11, 2013, and the Marshals received a few tips with sightings of Aragon in Valencia County.  On Saturday, Deputies again spoke with Aragon’s family and on Sunday Aragon turned himself in to the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office.   Richard Aragon was convicted of Attempting to Commit Criminal Sexual Penetration.  Aragon currently has a state of New Mexico warrant out of Valencia County for sex offender registration violations.  District of New Mexico, United States Marshal, Conrad Candelaria, said “The Marshals Service for the District of New Mexico remains committed to the safety of our many communities and by working with our local, county, tribal and state law enforcement agencies every investigative lead will be exhausted.  The goal is locating and apprehending sex offenders, a collaborative effort which has been embraced by law enforcement because many of these fugitives remain elusive and go through great lengths to avoid detection and apprehension; through effective partnership our successes once again has resulted in two dangerous fugitives behind bars so that both will no longer be a threat to our children, families and communities”. 

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

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