If you’ve ever had a flight delayed because of inclement weather, you’ve probably cursed your luck. But 19-year-old Sergio Morales Soto had a valid reason for grousing about the severe weather that held up his flight out of Atlanta on April 4. The storm gave federal immigration agents enough time to catch up with Soto, who was in the country illegally, and charge with him the rape he is suspected of committing.
Atlanta station WSB spoke with Deputy Special Agent Gregory Wiest, of Homeland Security, who explained:
We were able to locate which aircraft he was on, actually to the point of which seat he was on. Then we went on board the aircraft and apprehended him.
We are quickly able to identify where these people may be within Hartsfield, not even at Hartsfield yet, but booked on a flight. We have people who know the front of the airport to the back of the terminal. They do it every day.
Soto, who hoped to escape to his native Guatemala, was handed over to deputies with Caroline County Sheriff’s Office in whose company he boarded another plane — this one headed back to Maryland, where he will face six felony sex assault charges.
