Cook County State’s Attorney Announces Extradition of Fugitive to Face Mandatory Life Prison Sentence

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx today announced that a fugitive who was sentenced to mandatory life in prison was successfully extradited from Guatemala and is currently in Illinois Department of Corrections custody.  

The offender was tried for two cases involving the sexual assault of two young girls between the ages of 5 and 10, who did not know each other, and the abuse happened years apart from one another. The defendant ingratiated himself into two different families so he could prey on the victims. In 2015, Honduran national Evaristo Santa Maria was convicted, in absentia, of Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a Child and Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse after a jury trial. He was sentenced to a mandatory life prison sentence. 

“Crimes against children are among the most despicable and those who commit them must be held accountable,” State’s Attorney Foxx said. “I commend the assistant state’s attorney, investigators, and federal agents who helped make this extradition possible.”

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office became aware that the defendant was living in Honduras. In collaboration with the FBI and several State’s Attorney's Office investigators, the defendant was taken into custody in neighboring Guatemala where they had support of the Guatemalan government to make the arrest and extradite him back to the U.S.

The offender arrived in Chicago via FBI transport on Wednesday, April 10, 2019. After a court hearing today, he was remanded to the Illinois Department of Corrections to serve his natural life sentence.​