Authorities recapture suspect in marriage fraud case
A defendant who authorities said fled while awaiting trial for conspiring to commit marriage fraud was captured last week in Kaneohe.
Cooperation between local and federal authorities resulted in the arrest of former Radford High teacher Bob Loren a day before he was to appear in U.S. District Court on Friday to discuss the status of his upcoming trial.
Federal prosecutors had notified the court on Feb. 20 that Loren apparently had left for the mainland without permission and purchased a one-way ticket to Mexico, violating the terms of his release.
Loren subsequently notified pretrial services, which monitors pretrial detainees, that he would return to Hawaii in time for a March 2 trial conference. He even provided them with an itinerary. But a day before the hearing, authorities checked airline arrival records and learned that Loren apparently had returned on Feb. 24. He also spoke with his attorney and told her he would not be at the March 2 hearing.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents managed to reach Loren via phone using a number he had provided earlier and ordered him to turn himself in, but Loren refused.
With Immigration and Customs agents scouring the island for Loren, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Hino said he sought the assistance of the city Prosecutor's Office.
Armed with only a phone number, prosecutor investigator Lori Kurisaki checked their computer files and learned that Loren had reported a car accident in January involving a red PT Cruiser and had provided a Kalihi address, Hino said.
ICE and U.S. Marshals staked out locations in Kalihi and Kaneohe that Loren was known to frequent and spotted the red PT Cruiser roll up to a friend's home in Kaneohe, where he was arrested about 6 p.m.