Indiana Fugitive In Child Molestation Case Captured in VenezuelaOctober 6, 2006 U.S. Department of Justice Points of Contact: John Pappas, Deputy U.S. Marshal Todd M. Keil, Supervisory Special Agent INDIANAPOLIS – An area man who failed to appear for his Putnam County, Indiana trial for criminal sexual conduct and child molestation is under arrest and back in the United States following a joint investigation by the Putnam County Prosecutor’s Office, U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service, and the U.S. Marshals Service. Thomas Jerry Hudson arrived today in Miami from Venezuela under heavy guard by agents of the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) and Interpol. Hudson became a target of the U.S. Marshals Service earlier this year when Putnam County investigators sought assistance with his capture. U.S. Marshals quickly determined he fled the country and charged him with Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution (UFAP). Subsequent to the UFAP, U.S. Marshals discovered Hudson made application and fraudulently obtained a second U.S. passport. He surrendered his original travel document as a condition of bond on the Putnam County charges. U.S. Marshals contacted the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service Chicago Field Office for assistance. In August 2006, Hudson was indicted in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana, for Passport Faud. Extensive coordination between the DSS Regional Security Officer at U.S. Embassy Caracas and his local police counterparts led to Hudson’s capture earlier this week in the small university town of Merida. He will appear today in U.S. District Court in Miami, his port of entry into the U.S., and will be returned to Indiana by U.S. Marshals in the coming weeks. In late July, the U.S. Marshals Service was designated by the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act to lead the national effort to track down and arrest fugitives wanted on sex offender-related crimes. Hudson met the target criteria under this initiative.
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