Emigdio Preciado Jr. (born August 19, 1969) is an American criminal, gang member and a former fugitive who was added to the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

's Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on March 14, 2007. Preciado is the 485th fugitive to be placed on the list. After nine years on the run, Preciado was captured in Mexico on July 17, 2009 and is currently serving a 25-year to life prison sentence. The earliest year for parole is 2032.

Criminal career

Preciado has a documented history as a gang member in the South Side Whittier street gang, which operates outside of Los Angeles. Preciado is a career criminal who has been arrested for a 1992 murder, robbery, grand theft, and receipt of stolen property. He has been convicted of narcotics and firearms violations. At the time of the shooting, he was on parole for a

drug-related crime A drug-related crime is a crime to possess, manufacture, or distribute drugs classified as having a potential for abuse (such as cocaine, heroin, morphine and amphetamines). Drugs are also related to crime as drug trafficking and drug product ...

Shooting of Michael Schaap

On September 5, 2000,

Los Angeles County Sheriff The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States an ...

's deputy Michael Schaap and his partner, David Timberlake, were on patrol when they saw a 1979 Chevrolet van traveling toward them. As the van approached, the deputies noticed the van's headlights were not functioning properly and proceeded to stop the driver of the vehicle. When the van came to an abrupt stop, the deputies came under immediate attack from a burst of automatic gunfire. The gunman, one of four occupants traveling in the vehicle, appeared from an open door in the van and began shooting the deputies. Deputy Timberlake escaped without injury. A bullet fragment from his assailant's

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...

blasted into the bridge above Schaap's nose, ricocheted across his forehead and exited above his right eye. During surgery, doctors removed the remaining fragments of the bullet from Schaap's head, leaving a small wound, a horseshoe-shaped scar on his face and his left side partially paralyzed. Schaap had a long, painful recovery, which included intense therapy to re-learn cognitive skills. Three other men in the car, Carlos Albert Gutierrez, Jose Leonchio Guardado and Omar Jimenez were arrested, charged and convicted of the shooting, but the fourth man remained at large. The alleged shooter was later identified as Emigdio Preciado Jr, and he became a suspect of the case. In 2001, Schaap returned to work with an assignment to handle administrative duties and teach employment issues to his department. In an interview, he expressed his wishes for justice and a fair trial to Preciado if he were to be captured.

Fugitive

In December 2000, Preciado was spotted and videotaped dancing in a town holiday festival in Tepuzhuacan,

Nayarit Nayarit, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in Municipalities of Nayarit, 20 municipalit ...

, Mexico.

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

s profiling Preciado were installed in Whittier. Preciado was seen again in 2006 in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

, Mexico, and it was alleged that his family members or fellow gang members could have helped him evade authorities. Preciado had surgically removed his distinctive tattoos in Mexico. On March 14, 2007, he was named by the

as the 485th fugitive to be placed on the Ten Most Wanted list. The shooting case was reviewed several times on the

television show A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

America's Most Wanted ''America's Most Wanted'' (often abbreviated as ''AMW'') is an American television program whose first run was produced by 20th Television, and second run is under the Fox Entertainment#Fox Alternative Entertainment, Fox Alternative Entertain ...

''. There was a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to his capture being offered, but it was increased to $150,000, with the FBI offering a $100,000 reward, and the Los Angeles County Supervisor's Office offering an additional $50,000. The reward would be paid to the tipster who helped Preciado's capture.

Capture, extradition, and conviction

Preciado was captured in the hills near Corral Piedras, a rural area near Yagos, in Nayarit,

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

on July 17, 2009. He had been living there, using the alias Regalo Castaneda-Castaneda and working as a

fisherman A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million Commercial fishing, commercial and Artisan fishing, subsistence fishers and Fish farming, fi ...

. Preciado was held in the custody of Mexican federal police and transferred to Mexico City, from where he was

extradited In an extradition, one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...

to Los Angeles on January 12, 2010 in order to face trial. He was set for

arraignment Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal charging document in the presence of the defendant, to inform them of the criminal charges against them. In response to arraignment, in some jurisdictions, the accused is expected to enter a plea; i ...

in Whittier Superior Court and his

hearing Hearing, or auditory perception, is the ability to perceive sounds through an organ, such as an ear, by detecting vibrations as periodic changes in the pressure of a surrounding medium. The academic field concerned with hearing is auditory sci ...

was proceeded on February 19. In July 2011, Preciado accepted a plea agreement and was immediately sentenced to 25 years in prison. During what was scheduled to be a preliminary hearing leading up to a trial, Preciado pleaded guilty to two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on peace officers, as well as the special allegation of using a firearm in a felony. The former FBI Top Ten Most Wanted fugitive will need to serve at least 85% of this sentence before being eligible for parole, meaning the earliest he can hope to be paroled is in 2032.

References

External links

FBI press release announcing Preciado, Jr.'s addition to the listFBI press release announcing Preciado, Jr.'s capturePreciado, Jr.'s profile on America's Most Wanted
{{DEFAULTSORT:Preciado, Emigdio 1969 births 1992 murders in the United States American expatriates in Mexico American people convicted of drug offenses American prisoners and detainees Criminals from Los Angeles FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives Gang members Living people People extradited from Mexico to the United States People from Whittier, California Prisoners and detainees of California American people convicted of assault