Sex offender who promised not to return to US caught at border in Texas, officials say
A previously deported sex offender was captured after a clash with border patrol agents in Texas on Friday, officials say.
Salvadorian national Mario Aristides Rivas-Marquez, 43, was in one of two vehicles that tried to bypass an immigration checkpoint in Desert Haven, U.S. Customs & Border Protection said in a news release.
Patrol officers chased the two cars, and seven people ultimately got out and tried to run away, federal officials said. Officers were able to catch six of them.
During processing, officers learned Rivas-Marquez was a felon and had been deported once before, according to the news release.
Rivas-Marquez was charged with “multiple sex offenses” against a 13-year-old, the release said, and in 2013, he was convicted in Virginia on five counts of indecent liberties, court records show.
For these crimes, Rivas-Marquez was sentenced to 50 years in prison, but granted a 48-year suspended sentence under the condition that he never return to the United States, the release said. Upon return, he’d be required to serve out the remainder of his sentence.
Rivas-Marquez is now in custody on the criminal charge of re-entering the country after being previously removed, the release said. Other criminal proceedings are pending.