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A Mexican national who has been one of “America’s Most Wanted” fugitives over the past 20 years following a fatal shooting outside a bar in Ohio was captured while working as a police officer in Mexico.
Antonio “El Diablo” Riano was handed over to deputy US Marshals in Mexico City on Thursday and charged with first-degree murder stemming from the 2004 tragedy.
“When Riano was arrested in Mexico he was found to be working as a local police officer,” the US Marshals Service said.
Riano, 72, was flown to Cincinnati before being brought to the Butler County Jail.
The Oaxaca, Mexico native is accused of fatally shooting 25-year-old Benjamin Becarra in the head at Round House Bar in Hamilton, OH, according to court records viewed by The Post.
Becerra was in a brawl at the bar a few weeks earlier and was asked to leave when he returned on Dec. 19, 2004, as Riano helped out the bartender, according to WXIX, citing Paul Newton, the prosecutor’s chief investigator.
Police determined Riano shot Becerra in the face following a brief argument at around 2:20 p.m.
Riano fled the bar in his van, and police identified him through witnesses and surveillance video of Riano purchasing ammo at a Walmart 45 minutes before the shooting.
A search warrant was conducted on a home in Hamilton, where police discovered Riano had several aliases and “had papers to create false documentation so he could obtain different identifications.”
The officers also found a Smith & Wesson Model 10.38 with four live rounds and 2 already spent, which coincided with the ammo purchased at Walmart.
A Grand Jury indicted Riano on first-degree murder on Feb. 16, 2005, but he failed to appear at his scheduled arraignment.
Instead, he fled to Mexico to escape prosecution, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Following the killing, Riano was placed on Butler County Sheriff’s Office’s “Most Wanted” list and was subsequently profiled on a 2005 episode of “America’s Most Wanted.”
The fugitive is believed to have traveled to New Jersey, where he had family living, before leaving for Mexico in Dec. 2004.
In 2018, an affidavit in support of an extradition request was filed, but no other actions were taken on the case until Riano’s arrest on Thursday.
Law enforcement officials praised the collaborative work of the different departments that ended in Riano’s arrest.
“This type of apprehension would not be possible without the cooperation and due diligence of both the Prosecutor’s Office investigators, the United States Marshal Service, and the United States Department of Justice,” said Michael T. Gmoser, Butler County Prosecutor.
“The United States Marshal Service, through our violent fugitive task forces, assists our state and local law enforcement partners to apprehend the area’s most dangerous fugitives. This arrest is the result of the ongoing sharing of information between the agencies and the determination of the investigators who refused to give up on this case,” said Michael D. Black, US Marshal for the Southern District of Ohio.
Riano is scheduled to appear in Butler County Court on Monday morning.
