History
Marvin Lutes
The U.S. Marshals Service is saddened to announce the death of
retired U.S. Marshal and president of the U.S. Marshals Association
Marvin Lutes. Lutes passed away from complications related to heart
disease Jan. 19, 2012, at the age of 63. Born in New Eagle, Pa., he
served his country in the U.S. Air Force in the Vietnam War from
1966-70, later joining the Marshals Service in 1975. Lutes began his
career as a Deputy U.S. Marshal in the District of Columbia Superior
Court and rose through the ranks, serving in the Eastern District of
Kentucky, Northern District of Florida, Northern and Southern Districts
of Illinois, Eastern and Western Districts of Washington, and Eastern
District of Missouri. He served as Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal in three
districts: the Southern District of Illinois from 1986-87; the Eastern
District of Washington from 1987-90, and the Eastern District of
Missouri in 1990 and from 1994-99. He was appointed the U.S. Marshal for
the Eastern District of Missouri from 1990-91 and for the Northern
District of Illinois from 1992-94. He retired in 1999.
One of Lutes’s most high-profile cases was that of Christopher Boyce,
known as “The Falcon.” A convicted spy, Boyce escaped from California’s
Lompoc Correctional Institution in January 1980. For the next 20 months,
Lutes and a team of deputy U.S. marshals pursued the evasive fugitive.
Despite Boyce’s ability to avoid arrest, the team caught up with him in
a Port Angeles, Wash., parking lot on Aug. 21, 1981. Surprisingly, Boyce
remembered Lutes and greeted him by name while incarcerated years later.
For this and many other fugitive cases, Lutes was one of the individuals
on whom Tommy Lee Jones based his character, Deputy U.S. Marshal Samuel
Gerard, in the 1993 movie The Fugitive.
Lutes’s contributions to the U.S. Marshals Service were many. In
addition to his leadership in the agency, he served on the Law
Enforcement Availability Pay Advisory Group, crafting the policy and
implementation procedures that began a separate compensation system for
the agency’s criminal investigators. Lutes also spearheaded a committee
to review redundant and unnecessary policies within the agency. After
retirement, Lutes became president of the U.S. Marshals Association
(formerly the Retired U.S. Marshals Association), maintaining his
passion for the U.S. Marshals Service. Most of all, Lutes will be
remembered for his gregarious personality, sense of humor and
no-nonsense communication style.
Lutes is survived by his wife Denise and two sons, Joseph and Dan.
Though Lutes was repeatedly hospitalized for heart disease, he survived
to see his son Joseph graduate from the U.S. Marshals Service Academy
and become a deputy U.S. marshal on Dec. 22, 2011. As a living tribute,
Joseph, who currently serves in the Eastern District of Missouri,
carries the same badge number as his father. The U.S. Marshals Service
sends its deepest condolences to Denise, Joseph and the entire Lutes
family. |
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