Operation Patriot Shield Results in Arrest of 224 Fugitives in Missouri and Illinois

ST, LOUIS, MO. - The United States Attorneys and United States Marshals for the Southern District of Illinois and Eastern District of Missouri announced today the results of a regional public safety initiative led by the U.S. Marshals Service and its task force law enforcement partners.

The coordinated effort was executed over the month of June and was designed to promote safe communities in advance of our country's 250th Birthday.

Since June 1, the U.S. Marshals Service and task force members have arrested 224 fugitives in both Missouri and Illinois during Operation Patriot Shield, clearing 290 outstanding felony arrest warrants. Sixteen of those arrested in Illinois and six in Missouri have been linked to gangs. About 31% of those warrants were for narcotics charges, 28% for weapons offenses and at least 20% for violent crimes including homicide. Deputy U.S. Marshals also seized fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamines, marijuana and 32 firearms.

Deputy Marshals also located three missing children.

"This work highlights the mission and accomplishments of the men and women of the United States Marshals Service and the great work in conjunction with our state and local partners through our Task Force Officer Program," said U.S. Marshal Steven Lewis of the Eastern District of Missouri. "While our deputies are on the streets daily serving high risk warrants and taking truly dangerous criminals off the streets, the ability to perform operations such as Patriot Shield show the tenacity and capabilities of the United States Marshals Service. We are proud to contribute to a safer America.

"Operation Patriot Shield represented an intensive effort by the U.S. Marshals Service in the apprehension of the most violent offenders in the St. Louis Metro Area and the Southern District of Illinois," said Southern District of Illinois U.S. Marshal David C. Davis. "The task force concentrated on arresting the most egregious defendants who were wanted for homicide, drug offenses, weapons offenses, and other violent crimes. The USMS was successful in this operation because of our dedicated task force partners who participated in this operation, and we are appreciative for their enduring support. We believe it is essential that U.S. Marshals Service continue to combine the efforts of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to locate and apprehend the most dangerous fugitives to reduce violent crime in our communities."

"Our goal with Operation Patriot Shield is to try to head off the typical summer surge in violent crime," said U.S. Attorney Thomas C. Albus of the Eastern District of Missouri. "The U.S. Marshals Service arrested fugitives with active warrants in state and federal court involving crimes ranging from criminal sexual assault to drug trafficking to murder. These are folks who have been actively evading capture, some through the use of an alias and others by fleeing the jurisdiction where they were charged. We have also sought and obtained federal indictments against nearly three dozen people during that period."

Since June 3, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri has indicted 35 people for violent crimes, drug crimes and/or gun crimes. Most are alleged to have been found with drugs, guns or both during the investigation and some are felons previously convicted of violent crimes.

In June, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Illinois has indicted 11 defendants for violent crimes, including crimes involving firearms, assault, drugs, and child sexual exploitation.

"Those indictments represent just a snapshot of the work we do every day to try and keep the St. Louis area safe," U.S. Attorney Albus said. "And those efforts aren't stopping. We will continue to aggressively prosecute violent crime, and we have more anticrime efforts in the works."

"Operation Patriot Shield is about more than arrests. It is about reclaiming safe communities - freedom from killers, shooters, sex offenders, and drug dealers - so Americans can enjoy the way of life envisioned by our Founders as we celebrate the blessings of liberty on America's 250th anniversary," said Southern Illinois U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft.

Some of these cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

Some are also part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Chicago comprises agents and officers from HSI, FBI, DEA, ATF, USMS, USPIS, IRS-CI, HIDTA, and DSS with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Illinois.

The U.S. Marshals Service Southern District of Illinois Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force consists of participating agencies from the Illinois State Police, Belleville Police Department, Granite City Police Department, Alton Police Department, ATF Chicago, Homeland Security Investigations, Illinois Department of Corrections - Parole, St. Clair County Sheriff's Department, Madison County Sheriff's Department, Jefferson County Sheriff's Department and the Effingham County Sheriff's Department.