🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) arrested more than 84,000 fugitives in 2021, including one man who had been on a "15 Most Wanted" list for two years, the Department of Justice announced Monday.
In total, USMS detained 84,247 fugitives, including more than 27,000 on federal and 56,000 on state and local warrants. That equates to roughly 337 fugitive arrests per day in 2021.
"The outstanding work this year by the U.S. Marshals Service exemplifies that the Department of Justice has no higher priority than keeping our communities safe," Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a statement on Monday. "At a time of unprecedented challenges posed by a global pandemic, the U.S. Marshals continue to deliver on their mission, tracking down and arresting more than 84,000 fugitives."
Among those arrests included over 10,000 sex offenders, 6,000 gang members, 6,000 murder suspects, and more than 1,000 international fugitives and organized crime arrests. The USMS also seized 7,028 guns during various violence reduction and counter gang operations, according to the department.
Additionally, the Marshals Service made a 15 Most Wanted fugitive arrest in October with the apprehension of Jory Worthen, who had been wanted in Arkansas for two 2019 homicides.
Worthen was accused of murdering his girlfriend and her 4-year-old son, and then fleeing the state in her vehicle. He was later found and arrested in Burbank, California, and has since pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, according to the DOJ. He is now serving two concurrent life sentences in prison.
According to USMS, the 15 Most Wanted Fugitive Program was established in 1983 to investigate and apprehend "high-profile offenders considered to be some of the country's most dangerous fugitives—typically career criminals with histories of violence who pose a significant threat to public safety and have remained on the lam for months or years."
In general, the USMS leads 56 fugitive task forces across more than 1,500 law enforcement agencies in the U.S. in order to help arrest and investigate the nation's most dangerous criminal suspects.
"Their steadfast courage and selfless service in bringing fugitives to justice and in protecting our judicial process help to make all of our communities safer and is critical in preserving our democracy," Director Ronald Davis of the U.S. Marshals Service added in a statement on Monday.
Late last month, the Marshals Service also announced that it had recently rescued five missing teenagers and arrested 30 suspects during a sex trafficking investigation in New Orleans. Among those recovered included teens spanning in age from 14 to 17.
