First Salvadoran Extradited to the U.S.

Salvadoran authorities surrender Jose Marvin Martinez to Federal Bureau of Investigations and Department of Justice representatives.

Salvadoran authorities surrendered to U.S. authorities a Salvadoran national, Jose Marvin Martinez, in response to an extradition requested dates January  2008. This is the first extradition from El Salvador to the United States.

Martinez was convicted on March 30, 2006, in Brazoria County, Texas, of one count of sexual assault on a child and one count of indecency with a child. The day after his conviction, a Texas jury sentenced Martinez to eight years in prison on the sexual assault charge and 10 years of community supervision on the indecency charge. Martinez, who had been free on bond during the trial, fled before the jury began deliberations.  Martinez fled to El Salvador where he was arrested on Jan. 11, 2008, by Salvadoran law enforcement authorities based on a provisional arrest warrant for his extradition.

The extradition was the result of close cooperation between the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador and Salvadoran law enforcement authorities; the FBI; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the Brazoria County, Texas, Sheriff's Office; and the Brazoria County District Attorney's Office.