U.S. marshals often work in shadow of FBI

WASHINGTON -- One fugitive was arrested at his wedding rehearsal dinner. Another was betrayed by his missing pinkie finger. A restaurant's sparkling clean windows led to another bust.

These are among the prized captures of the U.S. Marshals Service, an agency that pursues its own "major case" and "Top 15" fugitives but doesn't get the attention afforded the FBI.

In December, the Marshals' distribution of wanted posters to Kinko's copy stores paid off when employees in Springdale, Ohio, recognized Clayton Lee Waagner -- an escaped convict suspected of mailing hundreds of anthrax hoax letters to abortion clinics.

Nonetheless, Waagner was known mainly as a figure on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. He previously had been sentenced to 27 years on federal charges of transporting a stolen vehicle and illegal possession of a firearm; and 37 months for escaping from jail.

"It probably is somewhat frustrating to the marshals," said Jim Pasco, spokesman for the Fraternal Order of Police, the nationwide law enforcement officers' labor organization. "They have the major role in apprehending federal fugitives. But their visibility and ability to reach the general public is secondary at best to the FBI because of its great name recognition and long-standing good relationships with the media."

The Marshals' and FBI lists of top fugitives are chosen separately by each agency from recommendations made by offices around the country. Although the FBI is engaged in criminal investigations, it's the Marshals Service that often hunts fugitives down.

That pursuit often means years of following trails and techniques that range from electronic surveillance to old-fashioned wanted posters.

In September 1997 three deputy U.S. marshals were on the trail of drug trafficker Carl Hach when they heard that he and another man were cleaning windows in Rhinelander, Wis.

At a local restaurant, the three officers remarked to the waitress about its sparkling windows. She said two men had just washed them.

The officers drove around until they spotted a ladder against a McDonald's -- and found their man. Hach was convicted in March 1998 and sentenced to more than 15 years in prison.

In October 2000 marshals were pursuing James Rowe on firearms charges and accusations of impersonating a deputy marshal. Rowe was arrested at his wedding rehearsal dinner. He pleaded guilty in federal court to the firearms and impersonation charges and is awaiting sentencing in Seattle.