Extradited man pleads not guilty in 2002 murder case

Pictured (L-R): Anthony Arteaga, original Arteaga wanted poster, Paul Casey.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- More than seven years after he fled the country, the alleged triggerman in a 2002 killing appeared in court for the first time to face murder charges.

Anthony Arteaga, 23, is accused of shooting and killing Paul Casey with a shotgun on Sept. 7, 2002 during an altercation between Casey and a group of taggers that included Arteaga.

Arteaga pleaded not guilty Tuesday in West Valley Superior Court to a murder charge filed following the shooting death of Casey, 33, in Rancho Cucamonga.

Federal authorities located Arteaga in 2007 in a Mexican jail, where he was serving time under an assumed name for a gun possession charge.

Once he completed his sentence in Mexico, he was extradited by local authorities back to San Bernardino County.

He remained jailed today at Central Detention Center in San Bernardino in lieu of $1 million bail.