Tip Leads to Arrest of Texas Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive

AUSTIN, TX — A Texas 10 Most Wanted fugitive was arrested last week in Houston, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Justin Ramon Statum, 27, a documented gang member and convicted child sex trafficker, was taken into custody March 26 at a motel on the north side of Houston.

Authorities said DPS Criminal Investigations Division special agents assigned to the Texas Anti-Gang Center’s Violent Crimes Unit, along with Texas Highway Patrol troopers and members of the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Fugitive Task Force, located and arrested Statum based on information from a tip. A Texas Crime Stoppers reward will be paid in connection with the arrest.

Statum had been wanted since October 2025 on a warrant out of Harris County for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon.

In September 2021, Statum was convicted of compelling prostitution of a minor and trafficking a child to engage in sexual conduct involving a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old. He was sentenced to six years in prison and was released from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in January 2025. He is required to register as a sex offender annually for life.

According to DPS, Texas Crime Stoppers, funded by the Governor’s Public Safety Office, offers cash rewards for information leading to the arrest of individuals on the state’s most wanted lists.

So far in 2026, authorities have arrested 17 individuals from the Texas 10 Most Wanted lists, including 12 sex offenders and three gang members, with $34,500 in rewards paid for tips leading to arrests.

Officials said tips can be submitted anonymously through the Crime Stoppers hotline, online or through social media.