U.S. Marshals Arrest Over 74,000 Fugitives in FY 2024, Strengthening Public Safety Nationwide

Washington, DC – The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) arrested 74,222 fugitives in fiscal year (FY) 2024, including 28,706 wanted on federal warrants and 45,516 on state and local warrants. On average, USMS personnel arrested 297 fugitives per operational day, demonstrating the agency's dedication to justice and community safety.

“These figures are not just statistics—they are a reflection of the tireless work of our men and women to bring fugitives to justice,” said USMS Director Ronald L. Davis. “Every arrest contributes to safer communities and demonstrates our unwavering commitment to protecting the public.”

FY 2024 Arrest Statistics:

• Sex offenders – 9,762 (Sex offenses include sexual assault, failure to register/noncompliance with the national sex offender registry and other offenses.)
• Gang members – 6,623
• Homicide suspects – 5,337
• International/foreign fugitives – 1,743 (A foreign fugitive is wanted by a foreign nation and believed to be in the United States.)  
• Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Program fugitives – 1,133 (OCDETF cases combine the resources and expertise of numerous federal agencies to target drug trafficking and money laundering organizations.)
• Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (AWA) violations – 266 (AWA categorizes sex offenders into a three-tiered system based on the crime committed and requires offenders to maintain their registration information accordingly. For example, Tier 3 offenders – the most serious – must update their whereabouts every 3 months with lifetime registration requirements.)
• USMS 15 Most Wanted fugitives – 3

The USMS seized more than 5,150 firearms during numerous violence reduction and counter gang operations in FY 2024.

The total warrants cleared by USMS arrest: 88,765

• State and local warrants – 58,972
• Federal warrants – 29,793

*The number of warrants cleared nearly always exceeds the number of arrests in a given year because fugitives are often wanted on numerous warrants, and a single arrest can clear them all at once.

Major Operations

In January, Operation Washout – OD3 resulted in 736 warrants closed, 96 arrests, 78 gang members arrested, 57 firearms seized, 102.58 kilograms of narcotics seized and $143,236 in U.S. currency seized. In addition, 27 individuals were arrested for homicide/capital murder, 104 for assault, 80 for weapons offenses, 44 for robbery, 202 for drug offenses, 64 for burglary, 25 for sex offenses, and 3 for arson.

From May 2024 to June 2024, Operation We Will Find You 2, the second-of-its-kind nationwide missing child operation, focused on geographical areas with high clusters of critically missing children. Of the 200 children found, 173 were endangered runaways, 25 were considered otherwise missing, 1 was a family abduction and 1 was a non-family abduction. The youngest child recovered was 5 months old. Fourteen of the children were found outside the city where they went missing.

This summer, Operation North Star (ONS) FY24 resulted in the arrest of 3,421 violent fugitives, including 216 for homicide, 803 for assault and 482 for weapons offenses. ONS FY24 enforcement activities covered 74 operational days, from May 10 to Sept. 13, and targeted fugitives and violent offenders in 10 metropolitan areas, prioritizing those who used firearms in the commission of crimes. During the operation, investigators seized 534 firearms, more than $508,000 in U.S. currency and 456 kilograms in illegal narcotics, including 138 pounds and over 550,000 pills of deadly fentanyl.

Notable Arrests in FY 2024

On Jan. 24, Anthony Ojeda, aka Erik Jonathan Donas-Ojeda, 42, and his husband Neil Garzon were captured in Mexico City after more than 2 years on the run together. On Dec. 3, 2019, the Cohoes Police Department and local emergency medical services responded to a Cohoes, New York, area apartment for an unresponsive 6-week-old boy. The child, Eli Ojeda, later died at the hospital. The subsequent investigation and autopsy revealed the baby died of acute methamphetamine toxicity and physical trauma. As a result, Ojeda, who claimed to be the child’s father, was charged with second-degree murder. It was later determined that Ojeda and Garzon fled the area together to avoid prosecution. Ojeda was added to the USMS’ 15 Most Wanted fugitives list in May 2022.

On June 28, Ladarrius Rhaheem Fantroy, 28, was taken into custody in Mobile, Alabama. Fantroy was added to the USMS’ 15 Most Wanted fugitives list in March 2024, wanted by Alabama authorities for murder, kidnapping, and burglary. He and an associate allegedly shot and killed a 10-year-old boy and the boyfriend of the child’s mother and kidnapped an 8-year-old girl during the crime.

On July 11, Cardoza Rodriguez, aka Jose Carmona, a fugitive wanted by the USMS and the Stockton, California, police for a June 25 triple homicide was arrested in Modesto, California. Rodriguez is alleged to have set fire to a camper parked at a residence in Stockton, killing his ex-spouse Lizbeth Josefina Gutiérrez, 33, and her two sons, ages 7 and 10.

On August 5, Deshawn “Thorobread” Davis, 36, a Canadian man elevated to the USMS’ 15 Most Wanted fugitive list on Aug. 1 for a Florida murder and a kidnapping in Canada was arrested in Redway, California, by Deputy U.S. Marshals. Davis was wanted for a murder that occurred May 7, 2023, during which he is alleged to have opened fire during a party at a Miami Beach nightclub, shooting to death Lowell “Lo” Grissom and injuring two women. The USMS adopted the Miami Beach Police murder warrant and collaborated with the USMS Investigative Operations Division’s Office of Canadian Affairs to locate Davis.

Finding Missing Children

In FY 2024, the USMS assisted in the location or recovery of 706 missing children. Since the passage of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, the USMS has contributed to the location or recovery of more than 3,967 missing children.