Prosecutor is Expert in Extraditions

Deputy District Attorney Sylvia Tenorio, who worked with the U.S. Department of Justice prior to joining the

District Attorney's Office in 2000, is one of the go-to experts when criminals flee San Diego County.  

She has handled numerous extraditions around the U.S. and from countries including Mexico, Belgium and the Philippines. A particularly proud moment was being involved in extraditing a defendant who brutally raped and murdered an 84-year-old Carlsbad woman before fleeing to Mexico.

This was one of the first DNA cases submitted to the Mexican government for consideration of a formal extradition request, Tenorio said. The defendant, Alejandro Avalos Fernandez, was later found and arrested in the huge metropolis of Mexico City and ultimately extradited back to San Diego to face his brutal crime. 

"Although many equally important extraditions preceded and followed this case, this was very significant legally and emotionally," she said. "we overcame a lot of obstacles." 

In the last four years, 15 defendants have been extradited from Mexico and more than 100 from around the U.S. Bringing back a suspect who has fled the country, can take months and requires inch-thick paperwork submissions to multiple agencies here and abroad.  

"The biggest misconception is that Mexico doesn't extradite, nationals," Tenorio said. "But, they do."The cases involve a lot of work, but the results are rewarding."  

When Tenorio is not hunting down criminals on the run, she volunteers with the Barrio Logan College Institute, which helps first-generation college students through tutoring and mentoring.