The Associated Press
WORCESTER, Massachusetts- A man facing a life sentence in Puerto Rico for attempted murder was being held on bail after he was caught here this week.
Fernando Velez, 36, was arrested Wednesday by local police and U.S. Marshals in Worcester, where he’d been living for the past two years and working as a car-radio installer.
Authorities said he fled Puerto Rico in July 2003 after jumping out of a second-floor courthouse window in Utuado. He had just been sentenced to 149 years for stabbing a man 37 times.
He was arraigned Thursday as a fugitive from justice and ordered held on $90,000 (euro75,000) bail.
John P. Garrity, the lawyer appointed to represent Velez, said his client knew nothing about the charges in Puerto Rico.
The judge scheduled another court appearance for Jan. 13.