Robstown prison discovers three weeks later that prisoner is missing
Missing prisoner is an undocumented immigrant

By Jaime Powell

Originally published 01:33 p.m., December 11, 2009
Updated 05:14 p.m., December 11, 2009

ROBSTOWN — A convicted sex offender has been missing from a Robstown lockup since Nov. 19, unknown to the prison’s officials until Thursday.

Officials at the Coastal Bend Detention Center discovered that they inadvertently released Mario Estrada Martinez, 31, an undocumented immigrant from Matamoros, Mexico, who most recently was arrested for illegal re-entry.

He was being held at the Robstown facility, owned by Lafayette, La.-based LCS Corrections, awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to illegal re-entry to the U.S., a felony, U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack said Friday afternoon.

Federal authorities asked the prison in November to release Mario Estrada to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation. Coastal Bend Detention Center handed over Estrada Martinez. Federal authorities actually were looking to deport Mario Estrada Antonio, according to the Texas Commission on Jail Standards.

In Mexico, where both men are from, the middle name serves as last name, and the last name is the person’s maternal surname.

“We really want to leave the whole mix-up, specifically how it happened, to Coastal Bend,â€