Career
He pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Department of Agriculture of more than $400,000. In February 2008, Porta escaped from the minimum security camp at the United States. Penitentiary in Lee County, Virginia and was profiled on America"s Most Wanted. He has five siblings who he claims he did not have contact with for 40 years, according to police.
Textile business
Porta began his career working for his father"s textile business.
Police stated that he plotted to take advantage of federal programs such as the Export Cr Guarantee Program, intended by the United States. Department of Agriculture to assist small United States. and foreign exporters of cotton to compete against large corporations. As president of Porta Textiles and Porta Technologies, he acted as both the importer and the exporter, according to the police.
Along with money he defrauded from the government, police said that Porta also swindled banks and other businesses of over $2 million. After his arrest, Porta said that he moved around various parts of the United States and Latin America during his life.
Porta pleaded guilty on December 20, 2005 to the charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Department of Agriculture in the United States. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
On May 2, 2007, the court in Asheville, North Carolina sentenced Porta to 38 months at the United States. Penitentiary in Lee County, Virginia. He was ordered to pay $2.9 million restitution. Porta was assigned federal inmate register number 18862-058.
Authorities believe Porta had walked away from the minimum security camp at the penitentiary when he turned up missing during a 4 p.m. count on February 25, 2008.
He had been placed in the low security area and was given a significant amount of freedom because he had been convicted of a business-related white-collar crime. He was scheduled to have been released on April 15, 2010.
Police stated that he is difficult to track because he has ties to many locations and that he could be anywhere in the United States or Latin America. Porta remains a fugitive profiled on America"s Most Wanted.
