Judge again declines bond for man who fled while wanted for homicide
When arrested, Antonio Riano was working as a police officer in Mexico.
A man indicted nearly 20 years ago for the deadly shooting at a Hamilton bar and who fled the country will continue to be held without bond, despite arguments by the defense that house arrest would be sufficient to protect the public.
Antonio Riano was found in his hometown of Zapotitlan Palmas in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, and transported by U.S. Marshals back to Butler County earlier this month to stand trial. He is charged in the Dec. 19, 2004 death of 25-year-old Benjamin Becarra.
Riano, 62, was listed as one of the Butler County Sheriff ’s Office’s “Most Wanted” and was profiled in 2005 on the “America’s Most Wanted” television series.
Butler County Prosecutor’s investigator Paul Newton teamed with the marshals service and U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, which worked with law enforcement partners in Mexico, to secure the arrest and extradition of Riano. When Riano was arrested in Mexico, he was working as a police officer.
If convicted, Riano faces a maximum of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 18 years. He is facing a single charge of murder with a three-year gun specification.
Butler County Judge Michael Oster ordered Riano be held without bond at his arraignment on Aug. 5, but set another bond hearing for Monday. Oster was again not convinced to set a bond for Riano and ordered no bond.
Defense attorney Kara Blackney argued in a written motion that Riano has no criminal history and although he is a “Mexican national” he has extensive family in Butler County, including a brother and three adult children with whom he could live with if granted bond.
“A condition of electronic monitoring with lockdown would regarding safety of the public and flight,” Blackney wrote.
Assistant Butler County Prosecutor Brad Burress said Riano’s flight to Mexico coupled with the evidence pointing to his guilt, including his own incriminating statements, are reasons to hold him without bond. And, Burress said, Riano is not a citizen of the United States.
“The defendant committed the ultimate crime of taking the life of someone else by shooting him in the head. The weight of the evidence is strong as there is video of the incident, witnesses to the event and incriminating statements involving his involvement,” Burress wrote. He concluded no bond is the only way to assure safety of the community.
Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser said Riano has been in custody in Mexico for about a year, but it took some time to achieve extradition. He is housed in the Butler County Jail.
Gmoser, who was not the prosecutor at the time of the crime, said Riano fled to Mexico before a grand jury indictment was handed down in February 2005.
According to court records, Becarra was shot in the head outside a bar the Roundhouse Bar at East Avenue and Long Street. Witnesses identified the suspect as “El Diablo.”
Through witnesses, a video and a search of a residence that turned up ammunition purchased 45 minutes prior to the shooting, detectives were about to identify Riano as the alleged shooting suspect, according to court records.
Police continued to follow leads in the U.S. for two years as to Riano’s whereabouts before receiving information he had fled to Mexico.