The Lone Star Fugitive Task Force Arrests Jesus Bujanda-Saenz

MIDLAND, TX – It seemed simple enough. If you’re on the run from the law, change your name and move to a different city. It worked for Jesus Thomas Bujanda-Saenz for twelve years. In June of 1995, he was charged with violating his probation on a stolen vehicle charge. Then in September of the same year, he was indicted by a Midland County Grand Jury, and arrested for Sexual Assault. When he made bond on that case, he decided that it was time to leave town and change his identity. What he didn’t plan on, was that the U.S. Marshal’s sponsored Lone Star Fugitive Task Force would one day be on his trail.

In August of 2007, the Midland County Sheriff’s Office, a member agency of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force, formally requested that the task force take on this cold fugitive case. Working with the U.S. Marshals office in Midland, task force members began working possible leads to pick up on any clue as to what happened to Bujanda. What they came up with, was that he was no longer going by Jesus Bujanda, but had changed his name to Jose Luis Torres with a different date of birth, which actually made him eight years younger. Using fraudulent documents, he was able to get a Texas driver’s license and a social security card. Those documents helped him get a job working for a hotel chain in San Antonio. Investigators matched up his booking photo from 1995 with his current driver’s license, and transformed Jesus Bujanda and Jose Luis Torres back into one person again. On October 10th, 2007, investigators with the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force in San Antonio were able to locate Bujanda at work, and he confessed his true identity before being taken back into custody. The Midland County Sheriff’s Office is now working on the extradition process to bring Bujanda back to Midland to face those charges.

LaFayette Collins, U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Texas said, “Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter has always been such a strong supporter of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force. When we all work together as one team, the criminals don’t stand a chance.”