A fugitive who escaped from a Nevada prison 27 years ago is back in the United States after authorities captured him in Mexico, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
The federal agency announced Thursday that Samuel Gallardo, who was convicted in 1992 of DUI causing death in a wrong-way collision and sentenced to 40 years in prison, was extradited to the United States by Mexican officials on Wednesday.
Gallardo, 52, had been on the run since his 1994 escape from the Nevada Department of Corrections after serving less than one year of his sentence, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
Gallardo was 24 years old in 1992 when, while intoxicated, he drove onto the interstate in the wrong direction and hit another vehicle head-on, according to officials. The crash killed Gary Selby Jr., 18, seriously injured passengers, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
Gallardo was found in Nayarit, Mexico, on the country's Pacific coast.
“He got comfortable and made some mistakes and we were able to capitalize on those mistakes,” Michael Desh, an employee with the U.S. Marshals Service in Nevada, told The Associated Press.
Gallardo will serve the remainder of his sentence with the Nevada Department of Corrections.
