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Two Inland Valley Fugitives Returned to the United States This Week by the Inland Regional Apprehension Team

FBI Los Angeles October 30, 2009
  • Public Affairs Specialist Laura Eimiller (310) 996-3343

Men wanted for unrelated crimes in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties were returned to California this week after being separately located in the countries of Mexico and Israel by the FBI’s fugitive task force in Riverside, California, announced Keith Bolcar, Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles. 

Members of the Inland Regional Apprehension Team (IRAT) returned Juan Antonio Herrera, 30, from Mexico to California on Wednesday, October 28th, and Donald Edward Nelson, 50, from Israel to California, early this morning.

Juan Antonio Herrera, was wanted by the San Bernardino Police Department for one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder based on an investigation into a shooting that occurred in March 2008. When detectives with the San Bernardino Police Department determined Herrera fled the state of California, IRAT members obtained a federal warrant filed in United States District Court in Riverside, charging Herrera with Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution (UFAP). IRAT members later developed information that Herrera was living near Puerto Penasco, Sonora, Mexico, and obtained a provisional arrest warrant through the United States Department of Justice, Office of International Affairs. On June 15, 2009, Herrera was taken into custody by the Mexican national police, and the FBI’s Legal Attache in Mexico City.  

Donald Edward Nelson, 59, was wanted by the Riverside District Attorney’s Office and the Corona Police Department after being charged in 2006 with 52 counts of lewd acts on a child, and failing to appear in court on the day of his trial in January 2009. IRAT members initiated a fugitive investigation to determine his whereabouts and obtained a federal warrant filed in United States District Court charging Nelson with Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution. Investigators with IRAT determined Nelson had fled to Israel and obtained a provisional arrest warrant through the United States Department of Justice, Office of International Affairs. On October 19, 2009, Nelson was taken into custody by the Israeli National Police and the FBI’s Legal Attache in Tel Aviv.

Following the return of Herrera and Nelson to the United States and to the custody of the investigating agencies in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, the federal government will dismiss the federal warrants charging UFAP. Both men will face prosecution for the original charges filed in the state of California.    

The FBI’s Inland Regional Apprehension Team includes members from the FBI, the Riverside Police Department, the San Bernardino Police Department, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and the Riverside District Attorney’s Office. A Special Agent with the FBI, accompanied by an IRAT task force officer with the Riverside Police Department and a task force officer with the San Bernardino Police Department, traveled to Tel Aviv, Israel, to escort Nelson to the United States. A Special Agent with the FBI, accompanied by a task force officer with the Riverside Sheriff’s Department, traveled to Mexico to escort Herrera to the United States.

The successful arrest and return of Herrera was based on cooperation among IRAT members, the FBI’s Legal Attache assigned to the United States Embassy in Mexico City, the Mexican federal police (Policia Federal Ministerial) and the FBI’s Phoenix Field Office.    

The successful arrest and return of Nelson was based on cooperation among IRAT members, the FBI’s Legal Attache assigned to the United States Embassy in Tel Aviv and the Israeli National Police. 

The return of both Herrera and Nelson to the United States was paid for by the United States government’s “Project Welcome Home,” which provides funding to assist in the transportation of FBI fugitives to the United States, where the repatriation by the host country occurs through deportation or extradition.