LYNNFIELD — Enrique Rivera, the Lynnfield fugitive who was arrested by U.S. Marshals last month as he arrived for an interview at Lynnfield Public School headquarters, was ordered held without bail Tuesday.
Rivera, 54, had been on the run since 1987 after he pleaded guilty to cocaine trafficking and failed to appear for sentencing in a New York City courtroom, according to court records. In his absence, he was sentenced to two years in prison.
He was captured after he applied for a job as a substitute teacher in Lynnfield. The district ran a routine Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) check and contacted authorities.
At a hearing in September, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Dolan argued Rivera should be held without bail, given he was on the run for more than 30 years.
Rivera’s attorney, public defender Jane Peachy, told the judge her client is not the same person who appeared in court when he was 22. He has a wife, two children, and has not had any contact with law enforcement since the 1980s. He has deep ties to Lynnfield, has turned his life around, and isn’t going anywhere, she told the court.
But U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer Baol ruled he be held and transferred to the Southern District of New York to await sentencing.
“His lack of a criminal record and effort with respect to his family and education in the last 32 years are commendable and certainly weigh in the defendant’s favor,” she wrote. “But he has lived as a fugitive under an alias for the same amount of time. Accordingly, this court finds that no conditions will reasonably assure the appearance of the defendant as required.”
A sentencing court date has not been set.
