FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	April 27, 2012
Docket #: 1:11-MC-00037-DLB

FRESNO, Calif. —Emilio Osornio Valdovinos, 55, of Michoacán, Mexico, was extradited to Mexico yesterday, where he is wanted to stand trial for an alleged killing in 2005 in Turicato, Michoacán, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner and Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced today.

According to the extradition request submitted by Mexico, Osornio Valdovinos is charged with homicide after allegedly firing a shotgun at a passerby on March 27, 2005. According to witness statements, Osornio Valdovinos came home to his father’s house very drunk that night with a friend. Osornio Valdovinos was carrying a 16-gauge shotgun that had been given to him for hunting purposes. Close to midnight, a person began walking along a creek near the house. Upon hearing sounds from the creek, Osornio Valdovinos allegedly fired the shotgun at the passerby, who fell to the ground. Rather than aiding the victim, Osornio Valdovinos fled to a cousin’s house and then to the United States. The victim died of a shotgun wound.

The United States Marshals Service arrested Osornio Valdovinos in Tulare County in November 2011. In March 2012, following federal court proceedings in Fresno, the court certified his extraditability to Mexico.

United States Attorney Wagner said: “This case is another manifestation of how prosecutors in this office are working more closely than ever before with their counterparts in Mexico to ensure justice on both sides of the border.”

This case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian Garriques of the Eastern District of California, Trial Attorney Michael Pahl of the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, and the U.S. Marshals Service.

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