Looking at the Data Inconsistencies in Hagerstown’s ‘Worst of the Worst’ List from DHS-ICE

The Department of Homeland Security’s publicly searchable ‘Worst of the Worst’ database currently lists 16 foreign nationals as being detained by DHS-ICE in Hagerstown, Maryland with various criminal offenses. We previously reported regarding this list, which has increased in size since our initial article. However, our continuing research was only able to verify approximately half of DHS’ claims of criminal records, due to various discrepancies in public records. While this data is not necessarily false, it is difficult to validate.

First of all, why is Hagerstown a hotspot for ICE arrests? The primary theory is that the arrests are mostly persons detained at Washington County Detention Center, or incarcerated prisons being released from MCI-H or MCTC. From January 20, 2025 to December 11, 2025, five individuals have been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement from the Washington County Detention Center, according to Washington County Sheriff’s Office. We are waiting for statistics from Maryland Corrections, as well as DHS-ICE for better analysis. Individual records of arrestees were not requested, only statistics.

While this initial data point reinforces the theory that many of the immigrants detained by ICE were already at Washington County Detention Center or a Maryland correctional facility, we also felt it important to examine what we can of DHS’ ‘Worst of the Worst’ list for Hagerstown, and verify what we can of the claims.

We encountered numerous difficulties in verifying the criminal convictions of multiple persons listed on the DHS website, likely due to differences in naming or out-of-state cases simply going unreported in the news. For example, when searching for “EMIGDIO ENRIQUEZ RAMOS” we were unable to find any matching records in Maryland judicial records, but were able to find records which matched the convictions listed by DHS for “EMIGDIO ENRIQUEZ”. Of the 16 foreign nationals published on the DHS ‘Worst of the Worst’ website, 7 could not be verified based on our preliminary searches.

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Another challenge we encountered in some cases was “circular coverage”, in that all of the news reports involving an individual referenced the original DHS release regarding the person’s arrest. This coverage linking back to the DHS announcement unfortunately does not validate DHS’ claims regarding the conviction unless they link to a separate announcement prior to the DHS arrest. So in many cases of individuals we couldn’t verify, news coverage exists, but not prior to the DHS announcement.

Name	Convicted Offenses (per DHS)	Verification
JOSE ANTONIO RODAS-ORTES	Third-degree sex offense	Unable to find news reports* or Maryland case search records**
ALLAN GARCIA-PINTO	Drug Trafficking	Unable to find news reports* or Maryland case search records**
MOHAMED BAH	Aggravated Assault – Gun, Weapon Offense, Cocaine, Assault, Possession Of Weapon	2014 Conviction – CBS News
JOSE RIVERA MEDRANO	Incest With Minor, Sex Offense Against Child-Fondling, Sex Offense	Unable to find news reports* or Maryland case search records**
WILLIAN ESCALANTE FLORES	Homicide, Aggravated Assault – Weapon, Assault	Verified Maryland case C-15-CR-23-001105 exists with matching name
JASON FLORES MORENO	Assault, Robbery, Robbery – Street-Strongarm, Aggravated Assault – Non-family-Strongarm	Unable to find news reports* or Maryland case search records**
JUAN NAVARRO-FRANCO	Arson	Verified Maryland case 123227005 with matching name
LUIS DIAZ-MENDEZ	Assault, Weapon Offense	Unable to find news reports* or Maryland case search records**
AUDIAS SANCHEZ	Homicide-Negligent Manslaughter-Vehicle	2016 Conviction – ABC7 News
JUAN BA-MORALES	Sex Offense	Verified Maryland case C-15-CR-22-000539 exists with matching name
EMIGDIO ENRIQUEZ RAMOS	Sex Offense	Possible match Maryland case CT210372X exists with matching name “EMIGDIO ENRIQUEZ”**
JEAN CONCILE	Homicide, Assault, Aggravated Assault – Gun	2021 Conviction – WBOC
BRADLEY MUA MBAGUE POUKA	Larceny, Hit and Run	2023 Arrest – Fauquier Now
EDWIN TREJO-RAMOS	Rape – Strongarm	Unable to find news reports* or Maryland case search records**
ISIDRO BOCH-GRAVE	Smuggling Aliens	Unable to find news reports* or Maryland case search records**
THEOPHILUS ANWANA	Rape – Drug-Induced	Verified Maryland case C-12-CR-18-000506 exists with matching name

*Excludes news reports referencing the ICE/DHS ‘Worst of the Worst’ announcements or database
**Names used by DHS/ICE do not always seem to match names in Maryland case search

Does this mean that DHS is publishing false data? Not necessarily false, but the data might be misleading. ICE has been criticized by the Government Accountability Office for deficiencies in their data reporting methodologies, specifically stating that ICE may be under-reporting the number of persons actually detained. At the same time, the ‘Worst of the Worst’ list is only a subset of ICE detainees, making it even more challenging to estimate overall detainments in Hagerstown. While DHS claims 70 percent of ICE arrests have been individuals charged or convicted of crimes within the United States, it becomes extremely difficult to validate this percentage due to discrepancies in DHS’ reporting methodologies. Finally, it’s also important to note that the DHS ‘Worst of the Worst’ site only lists “arrests”, and those listed may not necessarily have been deported or even remained in custody.

We will continue to investigate as additional data becomes available.

Because the criminal convictions may have occurred across numerous states and DHS did not provide the specific court disposition records needed for verification, Radio Free Hub City was unable to independently confirm the specific convictions for the 16 individuals through local and state public court records, although initial searches of news articles did locate relevant articles for some offenders, many of which occurred outside of Maryland. As noted by GAO, DHS does not fully explain its methodology in calculating its statistics, and they cannot be verified.

Story by Ken Buckler based upon information from Department of Homeland Security, Maryland case search, and news searches across the internet as referenced.

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