U.S. Marshals Arrest More Than 3,400 Gang members and 73,000 Fugitives in Fiscal Year 2023

Washington, DC – The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) arrested 73,362 fugitives (28,065 on federal and 45,297 on state and local warrants) in fiscal year (FY) 2023. On average, the agency arrested 293 fugitives per day (based on 250 operational days).

“The Justice Department is laser-focused on driving down violent crime by using data and intelligence to go after the individuals most responsible for it,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco. “By arresting the nation’s most violent fugitives in communities with the highest violent crime rates, the U.S. Marshals Service is making our communities safer.”

“I am proud of the dedication displayed by the men and women of the U.S. Marshals Service, whose efforts continue to drive our mission forward. I cannot underscore enough, the importance of our partnerships with our state, local, federal, tribal, and international agencies who are pivotal in accomplishing our collective achievements” said USMS Director Ronald Davis. 

FY 2023 Arrest Statistics:

• Sex offenders – 10,088 (Sex offenses include sexual assault, failure to register/noncompliance with the national sex offender registry and other offenses.)
• Gang members – 3,496
• Homicide suspects – 5,447
• International/foreign fugitives – 1,487 (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 – 1,051 (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 – 287 (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.)
• “15 Most Wanted” fugitives – four

The USMS seized more than 4,731 firearms during numerous violence reduction and counter gang operations in FY 2023.

The total warrants cleared by USMS arrest: 86,388

• State and local warrants – 57,280
• Federal warrants – 29,108

* 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, the USMS conducted Operation North Star II (ONS II), a 30-day initiative resulting in the arrest of 833 fugitives, violent criminals, sex offenders and self-identified gang members in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Buffalo, New York; Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Detroit; Jackson, Mississippi; Kansas City, Missouri; Milwaukee; Oakland, California, and Puerto Rico. USMS used its broad arrest authority and network of task forces to arrest individuals wanted on charges including 95 for homicide and 68 for sexual assault. In addition, investigators seized 181 firearms, more than $229,000 in currency and more than 160 kilograms of illegal narcotics.

From March to May, the USMS, along with state and local agencies in 16 federal judicial districts and geographical locations across the United States, led a 10-week national operation that resulted in the recovery or safe location of 225 endangered missing children, which includes runaways and those abducted by non-custodial persons. Operation We Will Find You was a nationwide missing child operation focused on geographical areas with high clusters of critically missing children. With technical assistance from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Operation We Will Find You resulted in the recovery of 169 children and the safe location of 56 children.

During the summer of 2023, the USMS conducted Operation North Star III (ONS III), arresting 4,455 fugitives. The operation targeted violent offenders in 20 cities and resulted in the clearance of 2,818 violent warrants, to include homicide, forcible sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and firearms violations. During this 3-month enforcement effort, investigators also seized 555 firearms, more than $1 million in U.S. currency, and 85 kilograms of illegal narcotics. The primary jurisdictions of ONS III were Albuquerque; Baltimore; Buffalo, New York; Chicago; Cleveland; Columbus, Ohio; Detroit; Houston; Indianapolis; Jackson, Mississippi; Kansas City, Missouri; Los Angeles; Memphis, Tennessee; Milwaukee; New Orleans; New York; Oakland, California; Philadelphia; Puerto Rico; and Washington, D.C.

The USMS Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, District of Maryland, and Task Force partners conducted a large-scale, multi-agency law enforcement operation focused on apprehending violent fugitives and wanted gang members throughout the month of May, arresting dozens of violent offenders throughout Maryland. Operation Washout resulted in a total of 95 fugitive arrests, including 17 suspects wanted for homicide, 16 wanted for attempted homicide, 19 wanted for robbery, and seven wanted for weapon-related offenses. Six validated gang members were among those arrested. Additionally, law enforcement seized 10 firearms, 72 pounds of marijuana, 78 grams of crack cocaine, six grams of heroin, and $3,200 in currency.

Notable Arrests in FY 2023

On January 13, Michael Anthony Baltimore, 44, a fugitive on the USMS 15 Most Wanted list was arrested in Broward County, Florida, after he fled the scene of a bar fight. Baltimore was wanted by the Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Police Department and the USMS in the Middle District of Pennsylvania for homicide, assault and parole violation charges. Baltimore is alleged to have shot to death Kendell Jerome Cook and injured another man at the GQ Barbershop on North Hanover Street in Carlisle on May 22, 2021.

On August 13, USMS personnel assisted in the manhunt and capture of Danilo Cavalcante, 34, who had escaped from a Pennsylvania prison days after being sentenced to life in prison without parole in the fatal stabbing of his ex-girlfriend. The manhunt went on for 14 days until he was caught near South Coventry Township, Pennsylvania.

On August 29, the USMS, along with West Virginia State Police, Lewisburg Police Department and Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Office, arrested Samuel Paul Hartman, 39, in Lewisburg, West Virginia. Hartman had escaped from an Arkansas prison facility in 2022, after being sentenced to life in prison in 2013 for sexually assaulting his 14-year-old stepdaughter. He escaped on a work detail in a field near the detention facility. Also taken into custody were Hartman’s wife Misty Hartman, 39, his mother Linda Annette White, 61, and White’s boyfriend Rodney Trent, 52, of Lester, West Virginia. Both women are alleged to have helped Hartman escape using a pickup truck and jet skis. Trent faces felony charges for allegedly harboring a sex offender and for assisting the trio while on the run.

On May 10, the USMS-led Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force arrested Cherie Goss, 42, on charges of attempted first-degree murder. Goss was wanted by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after charges were filed against her in early April. The USMS was able to track her to Stark County, Ohio, where she was arrested.

On September 27, the USMS arrested Jason Billingsley, 32, a suspect in the murder of tech CEO Pava LaPere, 26. Billingsley, a convicted felon and registered sex offender, was taken into custody near Bowie, Maryland, with the assistance of local law enforcement agencies.

On September 27, the USMS North Star Fugitive Task Force, Dakota County Sheriff’s SWAT, and the Minnesota Department of Corrections arrested Kevin Lamarr Mason, 28, after he had been erroneously released from the Marion County Jail in Indiana on Sept. 13 on a clerical mistake. The prisoner release created a massive manhunt stretching nationwide and eventually back to where he was wanted in Minnesota.

Finding Missing Children

In FY 2023, the USMS assisted in the location or recovery of 495 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 3,248 missing children.