Fugitive Partying in Cancun Arrested After Friending Former DOJ Official
A fugitive sought on bank fraud charges in Seattle was apparently partying and living it up in Cancun, until he made an online mistake: He friended a former Justice Department official on Facebook.
Maxi Sopo is now in a Mexico City jail awaiting extradition to face charges that he and an associate defrauded Seattle-area lenders out of more than $200,000, the Associated Press reports.
“Maxi Sopo was living the dream of a fugitive abroad, kicking back on the beaches of Cancun by day, partying in the clubs by night,” the story says. “Then he did two things that are never a good idea when you’re on the run from authorities: He started posting Facebook updates about how much fun he was having—and added a former Justice Department official to his list of friends.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Scoville told AP that a Secret Service agent tracked down Sopo’s Facebook page. Sopo’s profile was private, but his public list of friends included a Justice Department official who, it turned out, had met Sopo in Cancun’s nightclubs.
The unidentified official had left the Justice Department when President Obama took office, and was organizing student trips to Cancun while he took some time off, Scoville told AP. He had no idea Sopo was a fugitive. The official learned where Sopo was living and gave the information to authorities.
