Riano was listed as one of the Butler County Sheriff’s Office “Most Wanted” and was profiled in 2005 on the “America’s Most Wanted” television series.
Credit: Submitted
Credit: Submitted
Butler County Prosecutor’s investigator Paul Newton teamed up with the marshals service and U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, which worked with law enforcement partners in Mexico, to secure the arrest and extradition of Riano. When Riano was arrested in Mexico he was found to be working as a local police officer.
Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser said Riano has been in custody in Mexico for about a year, but extradition was achieved this week and on Thursday he was taken into the custody of the U.S. authorities. He will be housed in the Butler County Jail.
Gmoser, who was not the prosecutor at the time of the crime, said Riano fled to Mexico before a grand jury indictment was handed down in February 2005.
According to court records, Becarra was shot in the head at a bar at East Avenue and Long Street. Witnesses identified the suspect as “El Diablo.”
Through witnesses, a video from the bar and a search of a residence that turned up ammunition purchased 45 minutes prior to the shooting, detectives were about to identify Riano as the alleged shooting suspect, according to court records.
Police continued to follow leads in the U.S. for two years as to Riano’s whereabouts before receiving information he had fled to Mexico.
The case was assigned to Judge Michael Sage in 2005 and likely will be heard by Judge Michael Oster Jr., who ran for judgeship when Sage retired.
“This type of apprehension would not be possible without the cooperation and due diligence of both the prosecutor’s office investigators, the United States Marshal Service, and the United States Department of Justice,” Gmoser said.
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