Texas Fugitive Task Forces Nab Three of the State's Most Wanted Sex Offenders

Three High-Profile Fugitives Taken Off the Streets

Three of Texas' 10 Most Wanted Sex Offenders were arrested last week in separate operations across the state, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. The coordinated sweep stretched from the Mexican border all the way to the suburbs of Dallas, underscoring just how far law enforcement is willing to reach to bring dangerous fugitives to justice. Authorities arrested Eduardo Quinones Fuentes in Hidalgo, Kenneth Wayne Patterson in Plano, and Leroy Lewis Jr. in Houston, with a Texas Crime Stoppers reward set to be paid for information that led to Patterson's arrest.

The three fugitives were on the Texas Department of Public Safety's 10 Most Wanted Sex Offenders list, and the arrests involved local agencies from Hidalgo, Plano, and Houston, as well as state and federal law enforcement agencies. Each capture required its own multi-agency operation — a testament to the complexity of tracking down individuals who are actively evading the law.

Who Was Caught and Where

Fuentes, 32, was taken into custody on June 22 at the McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge after returning from Mexico. His arrest followed a multi-agency investigation involving U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Fugitive Task Force, and DPS Criminal Investigations Division special agents. Fuentes had been wanted since October 2025 on warrants for a parole violation and obstruction, along with a November 2025 Hidalgo County warrant for failing to comply with sex offender registration requirements. Since 2016, Fuentes has been convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, sexual assault, assault, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, and human smuggling.

Kenneth Wayne Patterson, 64, was arrested on June 24 at a Plano apartment complex after investigators followed up on a tip. DPS special agents, Plano police officers, and members of the U.S. Marshals North Texas Fugitive Task Force made the arrest. Patterson had been wanted since December 2025 on a Dallas County warrant alleging failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements. Patterson was convicted in Dallas County in 1989 of sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl and sentenced to eight years in prison.

Leroy Lewis Jr., 53, was taken into custody in Houston on June 22. DPS Special Agents assigned to the Texas Anti-Gang Center, along with members of the Harris County Sheriff's Office Violent Criminal Apprehension Team, the Houston Police Department Southeast Crime Suppression Team, and the Office of the Attorney General's Fugitive Apprehension Unit located and arrested him at a residence on the south side of Houston. In the 1990s, Lewis was convicted of murder, aggravated robbery, and aggravated kidnapping. Authorities say that in the kidnapping case, he kidnapped a 20-year-old female victim whom he intended to sexually abuse. Lewis was sentenced to 35 years of confinement. He was paroled in 2012 and required to register as a sex offender.

A Statewide Effort Fueled by Public Tips

According to DPS, law enforcement agencies have arrested 44 Texas 10 Most Wanted fugitives, sex offenders, and criminal illegal immigrants so far in 2026, including 32 sex offenders and eight gang members. Texas Crime Stoppers has paid $61,500 in rewards for tips that led to those arrests. That number reflects not just the work of law enforcement, but also the willingness of ordinary citizens to step forward with information.

Funded by the Governor's Public Safety Office, Texas Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards to any person who provides information that leads to the arrest of one of Texas' 10 Most Wanted Fugitives, Sex Offenders, or Criminal Illegal Immigrants. The Patterson arrest, in particular, illustrates how a single tip can be the difference between a dangerous fugitive living freely in a neighborhood and being returned to custody. With nearly four dozen high-profile arrests already logged in 2026, Texas law enforcement shows no signs of slowing its pursuit of the state's most dangerous offenders.