BOSTON – On April 13, 2021, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston officers, along with special agents from the FBI Boston Division’s Violent Crimes Task Force, arrested a Colombian national fugitive, William Hernando Usma Acosta. Acosta, 61, had been convicted in absentia in Colombia for the 1994 murder of his wife and the attempted murder of his daughter.
Usma Acosta fled Colombia shortly after the June 19, 1994, domestic violence incident, where he killed his wife, Laura Rose Agudelo, in Medellín and shot his daughter as she tried to intervene. He had been living under the alias Carlos Alberto Rendon in Belmont, Massachusetts, until his arrest.
The FBI Violent Crimes Task Force received information in 2020 that Usma Acosta might be in the Boston area. Tracking his location, agents found him in Belmont and arrested him without incident.
Usma Acosta was convicted in Colombia in 1996 for aggravated murder, aggravated attempted murder, and illegal possession of a firearm, receiving a 45-year sentence. However, the sentence was later reduced to 28.5 years. He fled Colombia, and an Interpol Red Notice was issued for his capture.
The FBI’s investigation revealed that Usma Acosta entered the U.S. illegally in 1995, later obtaining lawful permanent resident status by marrying an American citizen in 1998. In 2020, he applied for U.S. citizenship, submitting fraudulent documents, including a Colombian birth certificate. The FBI matched his fingerprints to those provided by Colombian authorities.
“Today’s arrest ensures that this dangerous, convicted killer will face justice for his crimes,” said Todd M. Lyons, Field Office Director of ERO Boston. Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division, emphasized that Massachusetts would not be a safe haven for international fugitives.
Acosta has been transferred to ICE custody and will appear before an immigration judge for violating his legal permanent status.
This case also involved collaboration from the Colombian National Police, the FBI’s Legal Attaché in Bogotá, and USCIS Boston.
