Quantico :: A Novel by Greg Bear

The Federal Bureau of Investigation maintains a “Most-Wanted” list of fugitives. According to the FBI web site, “The Criminal Investigative Division (CID) at FBI Headquarters calls upon all 56 Field Offices to submit candidates for the FBI's ‘Ten Most Wanted Fugitives’ list. The nominees received are reviewed by Special Agents in the CID and the Office of Public Affairs. The selection of the ‘proposed’ candidate(s) is forwarded to the Assistant Director of the CID for his/her approval and then to the FBI's Deputy Director for final approval.” The site further explains the criteria for placing fugitives on the list:

First, the individual must have a lengthy record of committing serious crimes and/or be considered a particularly dangerous menace to society due to current criminal charges.
Second, it must be believed that the nationwide publicity afforded by the Program can be of assistance in apprehending the fugitive, who, in turn, should not already be notorious due to other publicity.

Since the list was begun on March 14, 1950, “One hundred and forty-eight of the "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" apprehensions have resulted from citizens’ recognition of fugitives through this publicity program.” Most of the current residents of the Ten-Most-Wanted list are not terrorists, but the FBI maintains a separate “Most Wanted Terrorists” list that includes:

Usama Bin Laden
Adam Yahiye Gadahn: An American citizen indicted for treason and material support to Al Qaeda
Abdelkarim Hussein Mohamed al-Nasser: A Saudi Arabia citizen indicted for the bombing of the Khobar Towers military housing complex in Saudi Arabia
Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah: An Egyptian indicted for his alleged involvement in the August 7, 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya
Ayman Al-Zawahiri: An Egyptian associate of Osama bin Laden, indicted for his alleged involvement in the August 7, 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya
Ali Atwa: A Lebanese citizen indicted for the June 14, 1985 hijacking of a commercial airliner and the murder of an American citizen

As of May 1, 2007, the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” list includes:

JORGE ALBERTO LOPEZ-OROZCO: Wanted for “Unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, Murder. Jorge Alberto Lopez-Orozco is wanted for allegedly shooting to death three people in Elmore County, Idaho. The charred remains of a woman and her two young sons, aged two and four, were found inside a burned out vehicle on August 11, 2002. Each victim was shot in either the head or the chest.”

USAMA BIN LADEN: Wanted for “Murder of U.S. nationals outside the United States; conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals outside the United States; attack on a federal facility resulting gin death. Usama bin Laden is wanted in connection with the August 7, 1998 bombings of the United States embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. These attacks killed over 200 people. In addition, bin Laden is a suspect in other terrorist attacks throughout the world.”

DIEGO LEON MONTOYA SANCHEZ: Wanted for “Conspiracy to import and possess with intent to deliver cocaine; possession with intent to deliver cocaine; money laundering; racketeering influenced and corrupt organizations (RICO) - drug trafficking; conspiracy to distribute or manufacture cocaine abroad with knowledge or intent that it be imported into the United States. Diego Leon Montoya Sanchez is being sought in connection with the manufacture and distribution of multiple tons of cocaine, knowing or intending that it will be imported into the United States. Montoya is reputedly one of the principal leaders of the Colombian North Valley drug cartel. The North Valley cartel is believed to be the most powerful and violent drug trafficking organization in Colombia. The cartel reportedly relies heavily for protection on illegal armed groups taking help from right-wing paramilitaries as well as leftist rebels.”

JAMES S. BULGER: Wanted for “Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) - murder (18 counts), conspiracy to commit murder; conspiracy to commit extortion, narcotics distribution, conspiracy to commit money laundering; extortion; money laundering. James J. Bulger is being sought for his role in numerous murders committed from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s in connection with his leadership or an organized crime group that allegedly controlled extortion, drug deals, and other illegal activities in the Boston, Massachusetts, area. He has a violent temper and is known to carry a knife at all times.

EMIGDIO PRECIADO JR.: Wanted for “Unlawful flight to avoid prosecution - attempted murder of a police officer, assault with a deadly weapon, parole violation. Emigdio Preciado Jr. is wanted for an attack on two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies on September 5, 2000, in Whittier, California, during a routing traffic stop. Preciado fired twenty-one rounds from an assault rifle, striking one of the deputies in the head.”

ROBERT WILLIAM FISHER: Wanted for “Unlawful flight to avoid prosecution - first degree murder (3 counts), arson of an occupied structure. Robert. William Fisher is wanted for allegedly killing his wife and two young children and then blowing up the house in which they all lived in Scottsdale, Arizona in April of 2001.”

VICTOR MANUEL GERENA: Wanted for “Bank robbery; unlawful flight to avoid prosecution - armed robbery; theft from interstate shipment. Victor Manuel Gerena is being sought in connection with the armed robbery of approximately $7 million from a security company in Connecticut in 1983. He allegedly took two security employees hostage at gunpoint and then handcuffed, bound and injected them with an unknown substance in order to further disable them.”

GLEN STEWART GODWIN: Wanted for “Unlawful flight to avoid confinement - murder, escape. Glen Stewart Godwin is being sought for his 1987 escape from Folsom State Prison in California, where he was serving a lengthy sentence for murder. Later in 1987, Godwin was arrested for drug trafficking in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico. After being convicted, he was sent to a prison in Guadalajara. In April of 1991, Godwin allegedly murdered a fellow inmate and then escaped five months later.”

RICHARD STEVE GOLDBERG: Wanted for “Sexual exploitation of children (production of child pornography); unlawful flight to avoid prosecution - lewd acts upon a child (six counts), possession of child pornography (two counts). Richard Steve Goldberg is wanted for allegedly engaging in sexual activities with several female children under the age of ten in Long Beach, California, from January through May of 2001. He also allegedly produced images of these sex acts which were later found on his computer.”

SHAUNTAY L. HENDERSON: Wanted for “Unlawful flight to avoid prosecution - second degree murder, armed criminal action. Shauntay L. Henderson, an alleged gang member, is being sought for the execution-style murder of a man in Kansas City, Missouri. On September 2, 2006, Henderson allegedly shot the victim three times in the chest, with a semiautomatic pistol, as he sat in his vehicle.

The complete FBI “Most Wanted List” can be found here: http://www.fbi.gov/wanted.htm

The “Ten Most Wanted” fugitives are here, with photographs: http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/fugitives/fugitives.htm

And facts concerning the “Ten Most Wanted” program are listed here: http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/tenfaq.htm

This information was taken directly from the FBI site, which notes that: “The official FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list is maintained on the FBI World Wide Web Site. This information may be copied and distributed, however, any unauthorized alteration of any portion of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives posters is a violation of federal law (18 U.S.C., Section 709). Persons who make or reproduce these alterations are subject to prosecution and, if convicted, shall be fined or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.”