Man who fled SC courthouse found 9 years later in Miami - with BMW, oceanfront home

Ryan Gomez was on trial in 2011 for cocaine trafficking charges when, during a recess, he disappeared from the Greenville County, South Carolina courthouse before a verdict could be reached.

He was found guilty in absentia and sentenced, but had remained free until Monday, according to a release by the US Marshals Service.

Gomez didn’t flee too far, and he didn’t spend all those fugitive years struggling to get by.

When Marshals finally caught up with him on Monday, Gomez was living by the ocean in the Opera Tower high rise in Miami, driving a BMW 7 series, and going by the alias Anthony Kuni.

Marshals from Florida and Carolinas branches worked together to make the arrest, putting cuffs on Gomez in a parking garage across the street from the Opera Tower.

According to the Marshals Service, Gomez had been living in Miami as Kuni for several years.

“Wanted subjects who are on the run from law enforcement authorities should not assume that agencies are not continuing to focus the necessary resources to ensure their capture during the COVID-19 pandemic,” United States Marshal Thomas Griffin said. “The arrest of Ryan Gomez is a great example of the continued dedication of law enforcement in South Carolina and Florida.”

Marshals were able to track down Gomez thanks to “information developed from a law enforcement investigation,” according to the release.