ICE deports Seattle-area man wanted in Mexico murder

SEATTLE — A former Seattle-area man was deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operation (ERO) Thursday to Mexico where he faces homicide charges.

Fabian Godinez-Oseguera, 37, also known as "El Güero Loco," was turned over to Mexican authorities at the U.S.-Mexico border at El Paso, Texas. Godinez-Oseguera was escorted by ERO officers from the Seattle area, where he was held in ICE custody prior to his removal.

According to a 2001 arrest warrant issued by the Mexican state of Colima, Godinez-Oseguera is charged with aggravated homicide for the October 2000 murder of Arnoldo Farias Cisneros in the city of Tecomán. Godinez-Oseguera has an extensive U.S. criminal history, including felony convictions for weapons possession, drug trafficking and illegal reentry after deportation.

"Criminals who seek to escape responsibility for their actions by fleeing to the United States will find no sanctuary in our communities," said Nathalie Asher, field office director for ERO Seattle. "ICE works closely with law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad to promote public safety and hold criminals accountable – no matter where they commit their crimes."

Department of Homeland Security records show Godinez-Osegurea has been deported five times since 2000. ICE officials credit recent strides in the sharing of criminal record information between the U.S. and Mexican governments as the reason Godinez-Oseguera will now answer for the crime he allegedly committed more than a decade ago.

Godinez-Oseguera was remanded to ERO custody in December 2012 after serving 13 months in federal prison for felony reentry after deportation. He was held at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma pending the outcome of his immigration case, which concluded last December, paving the way for his removal.

Since Oct. 1, 2009, ERO has removed more than 720 foreign fugitives from the United States who were being sought in their native countries for serious crimes, including kidnapping, rape and murder. ERO works with ICE's Office of International Affairs, foreign consular offices in the United States, and Interpol to identify foreign fugitives illegally present in the country.