Student Accused of E-Mail Threats Arrested After 2 Months on Run

After being on the run for more than two months, a former UCI student accused of sending death threats via e-mail was arrested Thursday in Arizona as he walked across the border from Mexico, police said.

In November, a grand jury indicted 19-year-old Richard Machado on 10 counts of civil rights violations in connection with the message that contained a threat to “hunt . . . down and kill” Asians on campus. It’s the nation’s first federal prosecution of hate crimes committed in cyberspace.

The e-mail message, signed “Asian-hater,” was sent Sept. 20 from a computer lab at UCI. About 49 students and staff received it, said UCI Assistant Police Chief Dennis Powers.

Campus police identified Machado as their suspect based on the time the messages were sent, video surveillance tapes and statements from others in the computer lab, Powers said.

Machado cooperated during the investigation and gave police and the FBI no indication he would flee. But after the indictment, a roommate at Machado’s Irvine apartment told an FBI agent who appeared with a summons that Machado had stolen his car and disappeared. Machado was declared a fugitive when he missed his Nov. 25 arraignment.

After 10 weeks on the run, Machado was pulled aside by U.S. Customs agents Thursday morning at a border crossing in Nogales, Ariz., Powers said. They arrested him when they learned his identity and discovered the outstanding warrant.

“He came walking across the border all disheveled, no vehicle or anything,” Powers said.

He was transferred to a federal prison in Tucson, Ariz., pending his return to Orange County. That timetable depends on whether he fights his return, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Michael Gennaco, who is prosecuting the case.

“The fact that he’s coming up from Mexico may mean he’s been out of the country all this time,” Gennaco said. Machado is a naturalized U.S. citizen whose father still lives in El Salvador, he said.

The Irvine campus has the largest percentage of Asian students of any UC school: about 47% of the approximately 16,700 students.

Nicole Inouye, chairwoman of UCI’s Asian-Pacific Students Assn., said she and five others in her group met with Machado after he was accused of sending the threats.

“It gave him an opportunity to explain himself in terms of his actions,” she said. “He did express apologies for his actions, but that doesn’t really make up for the trauma.”

Some of the students sought out UCI counselors.

“Some of them still feel a bit insecure,” Powers said. “Law enforcement doesn’t think there’s any threat, but that doesn’t mean the victims don’t harbor any anxieties.”

When the message went out, Inouye said, the students’ reaction was “disbelief this could happen on our campus and disbelief someone would actually come out and say something like that. It’s a pretty powerful message. I couldn’t believe how much hatred he had.”

The message blamed Asians for all crime on campus, ordered them out of the university and closed with, “I personally will make it my life carreer [sic] to find and kill every one of you personally.”

Because the message was so strident, Inouye said she was surprised by how soft-spoken Machado was when they met. Powers called him “a quiet, introverted young man.”

If convicted of the misdemeanor charges, he could face 10 years in federal prison and a $1-million fine. But a two-year sentence is more likely under federal guidelines.

“I think he needs to learn this is a serious thing he’s done here. This is not just a joke,” said Rusty Kennedy, executive director of the Orange County Human Relations Commission.

Academics have debated the issue of free speech on the Internet, where anonymous commentary is common. But Kennedy said the line was crossed at UCI last fall.

“I am a strong believer in freedom of speech, even when it comes to odious, hateful speech,” he said. “That does not extend to death threats.”