Newark, NJ – United States Marshal for the District of New
Jersey, Juan Mattos, Jr., and Colonel Patrick J. Callahan, the
Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, jointly announce the
location of one of New Jersey’s Most Wanted Fugitives.
Anthony Mota, a fugitive on New Jersey’s Most
Wanted list for outstanding state charges including murder, kidnapping,
racketeering, arson, possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, and
theft by extortion, has been located by a team of New Jersey State
Police Detectives, U.S. Marshals, and Task Force Officers from the New
York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force (NY/NJRFTF), and District
of New Jersey.
On December 12, 1997, Mota allegedly kidnapped an
adult male in New York City and transported him to New Jersey where he
was held for ransom. Over the next four days, Mota and others bound and
tortured the victim until they received a ransom amount of $23,000 from
the victim’s family. Shortly thereafter, the victim was taken by Mota to
an area along Interstate 280 in Harrison, NJ and shot in the head and
neck which resulted in his death. Mota then placed the victim’s body in
another vehicle where it was lit on fire.
On October 1, 1998, Mota was officially indicted
on the charges to include a federal violation for Unlawful Flight to
Avoid Prosecution. Throughout the course of the investigation, the New
Jersey State Police Fugitive Unit, the United States Marshals Service,
and the NYPD Major Crimes unit made extensive efforts to locate and
arrest Mota following the indictment but were unable to successfully
locate him. Investigators believed Mota had fled the United States to
his native country of the Dominican Republic but were still unable to
locate him.
In 2021, New Jersey State Police Detectives and
Deputy U.S. Marshals assigned to the NY/NJ RFTF, along with Deputy U.S.
Marshals assigned to the U.S. Marshals Dominican Republic Foreign Field
Office, developed information that Mota may be residing in Nizao,
Dominican Republic. Multiple interviews conducted in the Dominican
Republic and the United States revealed that Mota was living under the
alias “Miguel Angel Gonzalez Perez,” and started a new family in the
Dominican Republic. It was further learned in June 2021, “Miguel Angel
Gonzalez Perez,” died of an apparent heart attack in the Dominican
Republic.
During the 25-year investigation, investigators
collected DNA evidence from various sources to assist in identifying
Mota. In April of 2022, a New Jersey State Police Detective, Deputy U.S.
Marshal, and New Jersey State Police Forensic Anthropologist traveled
from New Jersey to Nizao, Dominican Republic to participate in the
exhumation of “Miguel Angel Gonzalez Perez” and collect DNA samples
which were then hand-carried back to the New Jersey State Police
Forensic Anthropology Lab in Hamilton, NJ.
On June 3, 2022, the New Jersey State Police
Office of Forensic Sciences received the result comparisons for the DNA.
These results confirmed what New Jersey State Police Detectives had
believed, “Miguel Angel Gonzalez Perez” was, in fact, New Jersey’s Most
Wanted Fugitive, Anthony Mota, thus signifying the closure of this
quarter-century old case.
“Once it was determined that Mota fled from New
Jersey, it was imperative that the U.S. Marshals deploy every asset
available in order to help assist the New Jersey State Police Fugitive
Unit to bring the suspect of this heinous crime to justice,” said Juan
Mattos Jr., United States Marshal for the District of New Jersey. “This
is another prime example of how collaborative efforts among the U.S.
Marshals Service, state law enforcement agencies, and our foreign field
offices can work cohesively to end a fugitive’s journey.”
“This investigation is a testament to our
relentless pursuit to not only locate one of New Jersey’s most wanted
fugitives, but our dedication to bring closure to the family of the
victim that has suffered all these years,” said Colonel Patrick J.
Callahan, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “With our local
and federal partners, including the United States Marshals Service, we
remain committed to using all of our resources and technology at our
disposal to bring New Jersey’s most wanted fugitives to justice.”
The NY/NJ RFTF became operational in April of
2002. With Memorandum of Understandings with over 80 federal, state, or
local agencies and five fully operational offices in the New York/New
Jersey area, the NY/NJ RFTF has made an extraordinary impact on the
investigation and apprehension of the region’s most dangerous and
violent fugitives.
Additional information about the U.S. Marshals Service can be found
at http://www.usmarshals.gov.
####America’s
First Federal Law Enforcement Agency