Skip to main content

ICE on Prime Time Reality TV Series, 'Manhunters: Fugitive Task Force' 

In the city that never sleeps, at 1:30 a.m. on September 11, 2009, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Supervisory Detention and Deportation Officer (SDDO) Thomas "Tommy" Kilbride is wide awake as he briefs the fugitive task force members gathered at the U.S. Marshals Manhattan headquarters. ICE is one of the hundreds of federal, state and local agencies in the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force given the unique authority to track fugitives across all borders and around the world.

SDDO Kilbride prepares the team for their latest manhunt beginning with, "How yous doing?" revealing his Brooklyn roots. Kilbride lays out the setting, the stage and the roles each task force member will play in a stakeout to catch a Dominican national with a criminal history, including illegal reentry into the United States where he now works at a trendy upper Manhattan nightclub.

Two task force officers will linger in the park as if they're homeless, two will enter a night club as partygoers, two will keep a look out at the subway and others will be conducting surveillance, watching and waiting outside the nightclub.

At 4:27 a.m. an unexpected brawl breaks out in front of the night club. The task force members quietly talk about breaking up the melee. Yet, just a minute or even a second of ill timing or misjudgment can foil an entire operation. SDDO Kilbride's instincts and experience as a 19-year veteran of ICE/U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), a retired U.S. Marine and a former Customs and Border Patrol agent give him the intuitive sense to order the task force to stand down. The patience pays off. The ruckus ends and Martes, surrounded by eight cohorts, exits the night club. That's when the task force moved in.

By 4:30 a.m., the task force has 36-year-old Jorge Martes leaning against a vehicle and handcuffed. Besides being an illegal alien residing in the U.S., Martes was wanted on firearms and drug charges, as well as assaulting a police officer. His serious and violent offenses warrant him a top three billing in ICE's priority list of fugitives to target and arrest. The first two priority fugitives, according to ICE, are those who pose a threat to national security or a threat to the community.

This entire law enforcement operation will be aired on the A&E network in "Manhunters: Fugitive Task Force," a reality show, in a series of episodes that begins Jan. 14. A film crew captures on film the federal New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force in action as they hunt and apprehend dangerous fugitives. "Manhunters" shows the public that "our focus is on the most egregious felons who threaten society," said SDDO Kilbride.

The relationship between the U.S. Marshals' Fugitive Task Force in New York City and ICE's legacy agency, INS, dates back to 1996. Together they have arrested thousands of New York's most violent egregious fugitives.

"If you are a criminal alien, get deported and illegally return to New York City, look out," says SDDO Kilbride, "ICE and the U.S. Marshals Task Force will find you, arrest you, prosecute you, put you in prison and then deport you again from the U.S."

The National Fugitive Operations Program (NFOP) of ICE's Office of Detention and Removal Operations is the clearing-house for fugitive cases and refers leads to ICE Fugitive Operations Teams in the field. These specially trained investigative teams are dedicated to locating and apprehending fugitives for removal from the United States, with a particular focus on targeting those who have been convicted of crimes and pose the greatest threat to public safety. For more information regarding ICE's fugitive operations, visit the NFOP page.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

15 Gang Members Convicted on Conspiracy, Weapons Possession, Firearms Trafficking Charges Case Follows Recent Convictions of 137th Street Crew and East Harlem Narcotics Trafficking Organization

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., announced the results of the investigation and prosecution of one of Central Harlem’s most destructive criminal street gangs, referred to as “ONE TWENTY-NINE” or “GOODFELLAS/THE NEW DONS,” which terrorized the neighborhood surrounding West 129th Street between Lenox and Fifth Avenues. Thirteen members of the gang have previously pleaded guilty to importing, possessing, and using firearms over the course of the conspiracy.

Mortgage Fraud

Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced today the indictment of 13 individuals and a mortgage origination company for perpetrating over $100 million in mortgage fraud over a four-year period in the New York City metropolitan area. In addition, 12 individuals have already waived indictment and pleaded guilty to felonies relating to their participation in the mortgage fraud scheme. The indictment charges 13 individuals and the mortgage company, AFG FINANCIAL GROUP, INC., with enterprise corruption, grand larceny, scheme to defraud and conspiracy involving 19 fraudulent mortgage transactions. The defendants include the principals and a number of employees of the mortgage company, as well as bank employees, appraisers, and three attorneys. Two other attorneys are among the defendants who already pleaded guilty. The crimes charged in the indictment occurred between June 2004 and April 2009 with the bulk of the fraudulent closings occurring from mid-2005 through the end of...

DISTRICT ATTORNEY VANCE ANNOUNCES INDICTMENT OF SIX SUBCONTRACTING COMPANIES AND THEIR OWNERS IN MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR FRAUD

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the indictments of six subcontracting companies and their owners for colluding with LEHR CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION (LEHR) in a multimillion dollar scheme that defrauded numerous construction clients over the past decade. See, related story. The announcement comes one day after DA Vance announced LEHR and four executives were indicted on crimes including Enterprise Corruption, the New York State Racketeering law. GODSELL CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION and its owner ARTHUR GODSELL are charged with Grand Larceny in the Second Degree. JT ROSELLE LIGHTING, INC. and its owner JAMES ROSELLE, LIBERTY CONTRACTING CORPORATION and its owners GEORGE FOTIADIS and KEVIN FOTIADIS, PJ MECHANICAL and its owner JAMES PAPPAS, SUPERIOR ACOUSTICS, INC. and its owner KENNETH MCGUIGAN, and SWEENEY & HARKIN CARPENTRY and its owner MICHAEL HAYES are charged with Grand Larceny in the Third Degree.[1] "The defendants in this case cheated clie...