SAN DIEGO – When Manuel Jose Romero was pulled over by a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy in April, the man described by authorities as a career criminal had a few problems.

Romero, 54, was driving a car with paper license plates. He was driving on a suspended license. And he had a controlled substance, Ecstasy, in the car with him, authorities said.

He then gave the deputy a phony name and identification – perhaps in hopes of concealing the fact that, on top of everything else, Romero happened to be a federal fugitive.

In federal court Monday in San Diego, the fugitive found out where he will be staying for the next eight years. U.S. District Court Judge Larry A. Burns sentenced Romero to 100 months in prison and five years of supervised release.

In September 2003, Border Patrol agents at an Interstate 8 checkpoint in Imperial County found more than 270 pounds of marijuana in Romero's motor home. He pleaded guilty, but then turned fugitive and stayed on the run until he was caught on April 26 in Los Angeles County.

A statement released Monday by U.S. Attorney Karen P. Hewitt in San Diego said Romero has been convicted of 20 crimes and arrested seven other times in the last 36 years. The crimes include assault with a deadly weapon, robbery with a firearm, robbery with intent to commit great bodily harm, residential burglary and multiple drug offenses, she said.

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