A West Palm Beach man has been sentenced to five years in prison following a conviction for failing to adhere to the sex offender registration requirements. Yesterday, Ramon Fuertes, also known by the alias "Raymond Cortez," received the sentence for four counts of not complying with federal registration laws after a six-day trial in April.
Within the proceedings, it was revealed that Fuertes previously served a sentence for sex trafficking of a minor and enticement, convictions dated to 2009. By January and May 2023, records show he neglected to correctly register two new email addresses and a social networking account with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, an oversight he was obligated to rectify as mandated by the Federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Moreover, Fuertes opted to abruptly relocate to Georgia on June 2, 2023, without duly informing Florida and Georgia law enforcement agencies.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida, as Fuertes failed to resurface in the system and stopped communicating with law enforcement, an arrest warrant was issued. He was eventually apprehended by the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) Fugitive Task Force later that year.
During the sentencing, U.S. District Judge Melissa Damian remarked on Fuertes’ “history of noncompliance with rules,” leading to the imposition of his 60-month sentence which will subsequently be followed by an equal term of supervised release. The effort to bring Fuertes to justice was a collaborative one, with multiple law enforcement bodies including the PBSO, FBI, Georgia Bureau of Investigations, and several county sheriff's offices and police departments in Georgia pitching in to assist the USMS Miami team. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Schiller.
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe and U.S. Marshal Gadyaces S. Serralta announced the sentencing outcome. More information on this case is available at the website for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
