(202) 514-2007
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TASK FORCE ANNOUNCES REWARDS FOR INFORMATION
ON 50 MOST WANTED HALFWAY HOUSE ESCAPEESInformation available on the Internet
WASHINGTON, D.C. - An interagency task force convened by the Justice Department has announced rewards of $200 for information leading to the arrest of each of the 50 most wanted District of Columbia halfway house escapees and defendants in violation of conditions of release.
The interagency District of Columbia Task Force on Halfway House and Release Issues was convened in February 1999 in response to concerns about release issues and the management of halfway houses in the District of Columbia and their role in the D.C. criminal justice system. The task force is helping to implement immediate improvements in halfway house-related operations such as the United States Marshals Service fugitive reward program. The rewards announced today are offered through the Marshals Service, a member of the task force.
"Even one escape from a halfway house is too many," said Grace L. Mastalli, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, who chairs the task force. "We are using rewards to encourage community assistance in locating those who pose the greatest risk to the public and are sending a message to those who have disregarded their conditions of release that they will be held accountable."
The task force is comprised of representatives from: the U.S. Attorney's Office; District of Columbia Superior Court; Corporation Counsel; District of Columbia Council; Metropolitan Police Department; the DC Department of Corrections; the Attorney General-appointed Trustees for Corrections and Court Services and Offender Supervision; the DC Public Defender Service; as well as the Marshals Service and other law enforcement agencies with responsibilities related to fugitive apprehension.
Included on the task force's most wanted list are Rufus Brown and Robert Earl Merritt. Brown was ordered into pretrial work release pending trial on a charge of armed carjacking that he allegedly committed in May 1995. On October 1, 1998, he was reported to have escaped from a DC Department of Corrections halfway house. In addition to a warrant charging escape, a second warrant has been obtained for a murder allegedly committed by Brown since his escape.
Robert Earl Merritt was placed in a DC Department of Corrections halfway house in 1986 pending sentencing in Superior Court on charges of false pretenses, threats, and violation of the Bail Reform Act. Merritt was convicted of stealing more than $160,000 over more than two years from two elderly women he befriended through church activities. Merritt was reported to have escaped on November 23, 1986, and remains a fugitive.
The other 48 escapees and absconders on the most wanted list committed crimes including murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, drug crimes, burglary, and firearms offenses.
Information on the most wanted escapees and absconders is available on the Internet at www.mostwanted.org/DC Photographs of the individuals are now available through the Department of Justice and are expected to be on the website by Monday, April 5.
Anyone with knowledge of the whereabouts of these fugitives should contact the United States Marshals Service Superior Court Warrant Squad at (202) 616-0394 between 6:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. each business day. After hours, contact the Crimesolvers Hotline at 1-800-673-2777 and mention the Marshals Service reward offer (Crimesolvers is not funding this reward program). In an emergency, contact the nearest Metropolitan Police Department District Office.
The Marshals Service sponsors 68 multi-agency task forces composed of federal, state and local agencies, concentrating their investigative efforts on fugitives wanted for crimes of violence and drug trafficking. Each year, these task forces apprehend more than 12,000 state and local fugitives for felony charges.
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