A sex offender wanted by the Chatham County Sheriff’s Department on five outstanding warrants was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force and the Chatham County Sheriff’s Department on September 17, 2008.

Mario Morgan, 27, was being sought on a warrants issued in Savannah, Georgia charging him with Two Counts of Failure to Register as a Sex Offender, Two counts of Contempt, and Possession of controlled Substances. Morgan is also wanted for Probation Violation in Cobb County, Georgia for the original charges of Child Molestation and Statutory Rape.

The case was referred to the U.S. Marshals Savannah Office of the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force to help locate and arrest this subject. A preliminary investigation was initiated by conducting several interviews and surveillance. A Crimestoppers tip led investigators to the Forest Hills neighborhood in East Savannah. Surveillance was conducted on a house on Blueridge Avenue. Task Force and Sheriff’s Department investigators saw a subject matching Morgan’s description come out onto the porch of the house and then get into a car. Before the car could pull off, it was blocked by the Task Force members and the Sheriff’s Department. Morgan was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Chatham County Jail to await his court appearance.

Annually, investigations carried out by the U.S. Marshals result in the apprehension of approximately 36,000 federal fugitives. More federal fugitives are arrested by the Marshals Service than all other federal agencies combined.

The Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force has three offices: Atlanta, Macon, and Savannah and cover the whole state of Georgia. The Savannah Office of the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force is a team comprised of law enforcement officers from the Georgia Department of Corrections, the Chatham County Sheriff=s Department, the Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department, and the United States Marshals Service. The task force objective is to seek out and arrest fugitives charged with violent crimes, drug crimes, sex offenders, and other felonies. Last year, U.S. Marshals task forces arrested more than 58,600 state and local fugitives on felony charges.

Additional information about the U.S. Marshals can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov.