U.S. MARSHALS CRESCENT STAR FUGITIVE TASK
FORCE LEAD RESULTS IN ARREST OF JEFFERSON PARISH MURDER SUSPECT IN
HOUSTON, TEXAS
On the evening of
September 26, 2007, the Southern District of Texas U.S. Marshals
Service arrested Steven Conerly, 23 years old, at an apartment in
the 6200 block of Antoine Dr. Houston, Texas. Conerly was wanted on
a warrant out of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana charging him with
second degree murder. He denied his identity to deputy U.S. Marshals
at first by claiming that he was Steven’s brother. Deputies were
able to confirm his identity and he was arrested without incident.
He has prior convictions in Jefferson Parish for burglary and
possession of narcotics and had recently been released from parole
supervision.
On July 01, 2007, deputies from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s
Office were dispatched to the 1000 block of Tallowtree Lane in
Harvey, LA. in reference to a shooting. A deceased Hispanic male
identified as J. Guadalupe Porillo was found on the sidewalk with a
gunshot wound to the back. Conerly, Justin Whitley, and Keith Lewis
were identified as suspects in the murder. Investigators from the
Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office believe that the three had been
targeting Hispanic workers and robbing them and that Porillo was
trying to get away from the suspects during a robbery attempt. The
Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office is a member of the U.S. Marshals
EDLA Crescent Star Fugitive Task Force (CSFTF), and the case was
referred to the task force for assistance in locating Conerly. A
lead was developed by the group that Conerly was in Houston, Texas
and the S/TX U.S. Marshals office was contacted for assistance in
locating and arresting him. The other two suspects are already in
custody.
Michael Credo, U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Louisiana
stated, “I am very proud of the task force’s continuing efforts to
fight violent crime in the metro area. I would also like to thank
all of the state and local law enforcement agencies for their
support of the task force. That support is why the task force is
such a success.”
CSFTF, in response to the post Hurricane Katrina crime spike in the
New Orleans metro area, was given additional resources by the U.S.
Department of Justice in October 2006. That support, dubbed
“Operation Debris Removal” by the district, has led to the arrest of
almost 600 fugitives. As part of those numbers the task force has
cleared 18 murder warrants, 17 attempted murder warrants, 26 rape
cases, 113 sex offender cases, two America’s Most Wanted fugitives,
27 New Orleans Police Department top priority cases, and several
Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office priority cases.
Besides tracking and arresting federal, state, and local fugitives,
the U.S. Marshals Service is also responsible for security of
federal court complexes, protection of the federal judiciary, court,
security for high threat trials, productions of federal inmates,
housing and care of federal pre-sentence inmates, witness security,
managing seized assets, service of federal process, and other
special projects for the U.S. Department of Justice. The U.S.
Marshals Service also operates the Special Operations Group (S.O.G.)
which recently performed missions in Iraq related to judicial
security and instructing Iraqi officials on upgrading security for
their judicial system. On September 24th the U.S. Marshals Service
celebrated its 218th birthday. |