Miami fugitive on run for 20 years found in Nicaragua

MIAMI: A fugitive from Miami who has been on the run for almost 20 years is back in federal custody after he was arrested in Nicaragua.
Robert Allen Lopez, 49, was arrested on Nov. 14, 2015, and deported to Miami on Saturday by a team of deputy US Marshals. According to Barry Golden, who is a spokesman for the Marshals Service, Lopez was deported because he crossed into Nicaragua by foot and was in the country illegally.
In December of 1995, Lopez pleaded guilty to federal Medicare fraud charges. Lopez established fake companies that filed false Medicare claims totaling more than $4.3 million on behalf of patients for services that were unnecessary or never provided.
Lopez was released on bail on the condition that he would not leave the area without permission. In 1997, he was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of failure to appear for sentencing.
Lopez eluded capture in Mexico in 2000. After his son was found wandering the streets of Cancun, Mexico, and taken into custody, a person claiming to be the 10-year old’s uncle came to visit. Mexican police identified that person as Lopez after obtaining his fingerprints from a cup.
When Lopez fled the country, he took his two children with him but left his wife behind. Miami Dade Police later charged Lopez with interference with the custody of a child. Lopez’s son returned to the US in March of 2000 and returned to his mother. Marshals said the other child, a girl, was recovered before the boy.