El Salvadoran Fugitive Portillo-Fuentes Charged in Florida

Francisco Obidio Portillo-Fuentes, a 26-year-old man from El Salvador, was booked on federal charges Tuesday after being caught fleeing from law enforcement in a Florida gas station parking lot. Portillo-Fuentes is accused of illegally reentering the United States following deportation — a crime that carries up to two years behind bars. The arrest caps a chaotic manhunt that unfolded across Nassau County on November 22, 2016.

The trouble started at a Gate gas station in Yulee, Florida, where Portillo-Fuentes was riding as a passenger in a pickup truck. A uniformed U.S. Border Patrol agent approached the vehicle, speaking with the driver, when Portillo-Fuentes suddenly bolted from the truck and ran on foot. His panic move triggered a rapid response — two Nassau County Sheriff’s Office deputies, already nearby on an unrelated call, gave chase through thick brush and back roads.

An all-day search followed, involving multiple federal and local agencies. By evening, U.S. Marshals and Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office deputies tracked down Portillo-Fuentes and took him into custody. His capture closed a tense 12-hour fugitive hunt, one that exposed a dangerous pattern — Portillo-Fuentes had been deported twice before, in 2011 and again earlier in 2016, only to return illegally.

After his arrest, Portillo-Fuentes admitted to Border Patrol agents that he was born in El Salvador and had crossed the U.S. border just days earlier — around November 19, 2016 — by wading through the Rio Grande near Laredo, Texas. Federal databases confirmed his prior removals, sealing the basis for the illegal reentry charge. Authorities say he made no attempt to enter legally or seek asylum.

Portillo-Fuentes appeared in federal court in Jacksonville the day after his arrest and was ordered held without bond pending a formal detention hearing scheduled for November 28, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Laura Cofer Taylor, who emphasized that illegal reentry is not a minor offense when repeated after deportation.

The investigation was led by U.S. Border Patrol, with critical support from the U.S. Marshals Service, Nassau County Sheriff’s Office, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, Florida Highway Patrol, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Field Operations. A criminal complaint has been filed; however, federal officials remind the public that Portillo-Fuentes is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.