 |
MEDIA RELEASE FBI
POINT OF CONTACT: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
|
Ralph G. Diaz, Special Agent in Charge of the San Antonio Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announce the arrest of 38 year old FBI Top Ten Fugitive Ruben Hernandez Martinez. On June 20, 2006, after spending four years in a Mexican prison, Martinez was transferred to the custody of the FBI in Mexico City and afterwards transported to San Antonio, Texas. It is alleged that in 1997 and 1998, while working as a construction laborer in Nashville, Martinez was responsible for a series of home invasions and brutal sexual assaults committed at gun or knife point. An Unlawful flight to avoid prosecution (UFAP) warrant was issued for Martinez in June, 1988 by the United States District Court For the Middle District of Tennessee at Nashville. In May, 2002, a Davidson County Grand Jury returned an indictment against Martinez charging him with 26 counts of aggravated rape, four counts of attempted rape and one count of fleeing the Nashville jurisdiction. Martinez was initially arrested on May 2, 2002, in Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, by Agents of the Agencia Federal de Investigaciones (AFI), and officers of the Tamaulipas State Judicial Police (TSJP). The immediate cooperation by Mexico's AFI and TSJP at that time, led to Martinez's capture less than 24 hours after he was added to the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list. Ruben Hernandez Martinez is the 472nd person to be placed on ten FBI's Top Ten list since 1950. Since then, 452 fugitives have been apprehended or located. Not since 1968 has a person appeared on the list for crimes committed in Nashville. Mr. Diaz wished to emphasize that the charges are merely accusations and that Martinez is presumed innocent until proven guilty. Mr. Diaz praised the actions of AFI, TSJP and the Mexican Government for their assistance in this matter. |
