Home *  New Products *  Baseball Cards *  Basketball Cards *  Football Cards *  Hockey Cards *  Non-Sports Cards *  Payment and Shipping

"A" List of Friends *  "F" List of Frauds *  PSA: My 61 Memorable Games *  PSA: Ed Trice/GothiChess *  AMW: Robert Snyder CAUGHT!

Information from: Fort Collins Coloradoan, http://www.coloradoan.com

Grabshot of convicted child molestor Robert Snyder [1 min. 0 seconds]

http://www.amw.com/fugitives/capture.cfm?id=68580

AMW Capture #1096

Checkmate: Tip Leads To Endgame For Chess Master

Cops in Ft. Collins, Colo. tell AMW that convicted child molester Robert Snyder is finally back behind bars – and that he was up to his old tricks when they found him on December 4, 2009.

Authorities say that Snyder had received two reliable tips through both the AMW hotline and AMW.com saying Snyder had set up shop in Belize.

They say he was tutoring children in chess at Hummingbird Elementary school in Belize City.

“There were two tips that we got through AMW,” said Sgt. Paul Wood of the Fort Collins Police Department.  “The night of the show, a man who was in jail with Snyder said that he had mentioned going to Belize once he got out.  The next day, we received a credible tip from somebody whose child was enrolled at the elementary school where Snyder taught in Belize City.  The person gave a physical description of what he looked like, with an alias of ‘Augustine Rios.’ Sure enough, that was our guy.”

Police tell AMW that they searched the elementary school’s website and found a link to a Belizean chess association.

Lo and behold, a picture of Snyder sitting across a chess board from a young boy flashed up on the computer screen.

They say there was no doubt in their mind and Ft. Collins police then dispatched U.S. Marshals to work with Belizean authorities to take Snyder down.

Cops say the story gets even better though: reports indicate that Snyder married a Belizean police officer after he skipped town.

“The Assistant Superintendent of Police was the one who arrested Snyder,” said Sgt. Wood. “You generally wouldn’t have somebody that high in the ranks going to arrest someone unless he did, in fact, have ties to this Belizean police officer.”

Authorities say Snyder admitted who he was once taken into custody and that he knew he was wanted in the United States.

“He didn’t resist arrest and there were no problems,” said Sgt. Wood. “That’s not the type of personality Snyder is anyway.”

Police believe that Snyder had been in Belize close to 15 months and went there almost immediately after getting paroled and failing to register as a sex offender.

“He may have gone to Mexico first, then went to Belize,” said Sgt. Wood. “Snyder doesn’t speak Spanish and we suspect he chose Belize because it is an English-speaking country.”

Cops say the airing of Robert Snyder on America’s Most Wanted on November 28, 2009 was critical to this investigation which had hit a roadblock.

“Our leads were finished as far as this investigation was concerned,” said Sgt. Wood.  “There was no way we would ever be able to tie Robert Snyder to Belize without the help of America’s Most Wanted."

Sgt. Wood goes on to say that his record with America’s Most Wanted is now “three-for-three” for the Ft. Collins Police Department.

“For each of the three fugitives we’ve had aired on AMW, three were captured,” said Sgt. Wood.  “One was an alleged murderer and the other two, including Snyder, are alleged sex offenders.  We couldn’t have a better track record with that.  This is fantastic for our department and we look forward to working with America’s Most Wanted in the future.”

The apprehension of convicted child molester Robert Snyder marks capture number 1096 for America's Most Wanted.

- by Jenny Allen, AMW Staff

Robert Snyder Shipped Back to the US
posted (December 7, 2009)

Email

Print

Convicted US Child molester Robert Snyder – who went by the name Augustin Rios in Belize was sent back to the United States today where he will be treated as a fugitive after failing to keep up with the terms of his probation when he was released from a Colorado prison in 2007. This video of him was taken at the airport today where he was escorted by Belize police and then later picked up by a US Marshall who escorted him to Houston on a Continental Flight and from there to Colorado. We could not confirm what immigration status he had in Belize, but because he is a US citizen – he was presumably given an order to leave, expels from Belize.

According to best reports Snyder came to Belize in or around the last quarter of 2008 where he married a policewoman and started seeking out jobs as a chess instructor – which is the same career he had when he was in Colorado. According to US media reports, he used that profession as a means to get close to his young victims.

Snyder worked under his Rios name at a number of primary schools in Belize City where he was a paid chess instructor. That last name proved important because when background checks were done on that name they came up empty. It is believed that he changed his name in Mexico before coming to Belize. At this time, there have been no complaints against him in Belize.

The Belize National Youth Chess Foundation today sent out a strong release declaring that they had no association with Snyder and that he worked independently. The Youth Chess Foundation said they differed with him because he charges for chess instruction and the foundation strictly offers instruction for free.

http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-20301--27-27--.html

Judge sets bond for chess master at $1.5 M

BY NATE TAYLOR • NateTaylor@coloradoan.com • December 19, 2009

Snyder's first appearance in district court came two days after he was returned to Larimer County from Texas, where he was taken after being deported from the Central American nation of Belize.

"The biggest thing is this is not just a significant flight risk, but a virtual certain flight risk," Williams said, explaining his rationale for setting such a high bond.

Police were able to locate Snyder in Belize, where he fled in 2008 after his release from jail and after being convicted of felony sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust and two counts of misdemeanor unlawful sexual contact. His two victims in the case dating back to 2005 were both students at Snyder's local chess academy.

Snyder's bond was set at $1 million for his case in which prosecutors have filed to revoke his probation after he failed to begin sex offender intensive supervision probation in August 2008. Williams then set a $500,000 bond in Snyder's case where he's charged with felony failure to register as a sex offender.

Should Snyder be able to come up with the $1.5 million in cash, Williams ordered he be placed on ankle monitoring and enhanced pretrial supervision, be confined to his residence and have no contact with anyone younger than 18.

Prosecutor Cliff Riedel asked Williams to set the combined bond at $2 million while Snyder's attorney Joseph P. Fonfara asked for the bond to be a personal recognizance bond set at $100,000. Fonfara claimed a bond amount set at millions of dollars is oppressive to his client.

"It would be oppressive to the people of the state of Colorado should he be out and allowed to flee again," Riedel argued to the judge.

Fonfara argued his client was not a risk to the community, partially because when he was released from jail in 2008, he did not remain in Larimer County, instead fleeing to Mexico and eventually Belize.

During the hearing, Snyder also waived the right to have a hearing within 15 days regarding the prosecution's motion to revoke his probation, and he also waived his right to have a preliminary hearing within 30 days for the charge that he failed to register as a sex offender. Snyder maintained the right to still have both hearings.

Snyder was captured with the help of the television show "America's Most Wanted," according to Fort Collins police. Days after Snyder was featured on the show, a parent with children in an elementary school in Belize provided a tip to law enforcement that a man matching Snyder's description was teaching chess at the school.

Before locating Snyder, police believed he might be trying to stay active in chess, and Sgt. Paul Wood said he believed the fugitive was arrogant enough to continue to be around children ages 10, 11 and 12, which were the ages of his victims in Fort Collins.

Snyder was a world-renowned chess teacher and player and had written books on chess. Police say he used to charge about $40 per half hour for people to play chess against him on the Internet.

In Belize, Snyder had changed his name to Augustin Rios, and news reports in Belize indicate he had married a police officer after being in the country for about a year.

(AP) – 2 days ago

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — A convicted sex offender who moved to Belize when he was supposed to be serving probation in Colorado has been returned to Fort Collins to face charges.

Fifty-five-year-old Robert Michael Snyder, a youth chess teacher who wrote books about the game, was convicted in 2007 of sexual assault on a child and unlawful sexual contact. Authorities say the victims were his students.

He was ordered to serve supervised probation after his release from prison in 2008, but authorities say he moved to Belize and was teaching chess.

Snyder was arrested Dec. 4 after he was featured on "America's Most Wanted." He was transported to the Larimer County Jail this week.

He's being held on charges of failing to register as a sex offender and violating probation.

Information from: Fort Collins Coloradoan, http://www.coloradoan.com

Grabshot of convicted child molestor Robert Snyder [1 min. 0 seconds]

http://www.amw.com/fugitives/capture.cfm?id=68580

AMW Capture #1096

Checkmate: Tip Leads To Endgame For Chess Master

Cops in Ft. Collins, Colo. tell AMW that convicted child molester Robert Snyder is finally back behind bars – and that he was up to his old tricks when they found him on December 4, 2009.

Authorities say that Snyder had received two reliable tips through both the AMW hotline and AMW.com saying Snyder had set up shop in Belize.

They say he was tutoring children in chess at Hummingbird Elementary school in Belize City.

“There were two tips that we got through AMW,” said Sgt. Paul Wood of the Fort Collins Police Department.  “The night of the show, a man who was in jail with Snyder said that he had mentioned going to Belize once he got out.  The next day, we received a credible tip from somebody whose child was enrolled at the elementary school where Snyder taught in Belize City.  The person gave a physical description of what he looked like, with an alias of ‘Augustine Rios.’ Sure enough, that was our guy.”

Police tell AMW that they searched the elementary school’s website and found a link to a Belizean chess association.

Lo and behold, a picture of Snyder sitting across a chess board from a young boy flashed up on the computer screen.

They say there was no doubt in their mind and Ft. Collins police then dispatched U.S. Marshals to work with Belizean authorities to take Snyder down.

Cops say the story gets even better though: reports indicate that Snyder married a Belizean police officer after he skipped town.

“The Assistant Superintendent of Police was the one who arrested Snyder,” said Sgt. Wood. “You generally wouldn’t have somebody that high in the ranks going to arrest someone unless he did, in fact, have ties to this Belizean police officer.”

Authorities say Snyder admitted who he was once taken into custody and that he knew he was wanted in the United States.

“He didn’t resist arrest and there were no problems,” said Sgt. Wood. “That’s not the type of personality Snyder is anyway.”

Police believe that Snyder had been in Belize close to 15 months and went there almost immediately after getting paroled and failing to register as a sex offender.

“He may have gone to Mexico first, then went to Belize,” said Sgt. Wood. “Snyder doesn’t speak Spanish and we suspect he chose Belize because it is an English-speaking country.”

Cops say the airing of Robert Snyder on America’s Most Wanted on November 28, 2009 was critical to this investigation which had hit a roadblock.

“Our leads were finished as far as this investigation was concerned,” said Sgt. Wood.  “There was no way we would ever be able to tie Robert Snyder to Belize without the help of America’s Most Wanted."

Sgt. Wood goes on to say that his record with America’s Most Wanted is now “three-for-three” for the Ft. Collins Police Department.

“For each of the three fugitives we’ve had aired on AMW, three were captured,” said Sgt. Wood.  “One was an alleged murderer and the other two, including Snyder, are alleged sex offenders.  We couldn’t have a better track record with that.  This is fantastic for our department and we look forward to working with America’s Most Wanted in the future.”

The apprehension of convicted child molester Robert Snyder marks capture number 1096 for America's Most Wanted.

- by Jenny Allen, AMW Staff

Robert Snyder Shipped Back to the US
posted (December 7, 2009)

Email

Print

Convicted US Child molester Robert Snyder – who went by the name Augustin Rios in Belize was sent back to the United States today where he will be treated as a fugitive after failing to keep up with the terms of his probation when he was released from a Colorado prison in 2007. This video of him was taken at the airport today where he was escorted by Belize police and then later picked up by a US Marshall who escorted him to Houston on a Continental Flight and from there to Colorado. We could not confirm what immigration status he had in Belize, but because he is a US citizen – he was presumably given an order to leave, expels from Belize.

According to best reports Snyder came to Belize in or around the last quarter of 2008 where he married a policewoman and started seeking out jobs as a chess instructor – which is the same career he had when he was in Colorado. According to US media reports, he used that profession as a means to get close to his young victims.

Snyder worked under his Rios name at a number of primary schools in Belize City where he was a paid chess instructor. That last name proved important because when background checks were done on that name they came up empty. It is believed that he changed his name in Mexico before coming to Belize. At this time, there have been no complaints against him in Belize.

The Belize National Youth Chess Foundation today sent out a strong release declaring that they had no association with Snyder and that he worked independently. The Youth Chess Foundation said they differed with him because he charges for chess instruction and the foundation strictly offers instruction for free.

http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-20301--27-27--.html

 Sunday , October 05, 2008 

Most wanted list

 

Man added to wanted list
Police searching for ex-chess teacher convicted of sexually assaulting child
BY NATE TAYLOR • October 5, 2008

Police continue to search for a former Fort Collins chess teacher convicted of sexually assaulting a child.

Robert Snyder, 58, was released from jail and was supposed to register Aug. 24 for his 10-year probation sentence, as well as register as a sex offender, but he never showed up.

A warrant was issued immediately for his arrest, and he's now on the city's most-wanted list.

Snyder is also a world-renowned chess player, coach and author. He is a former western U.S. chess champion and qualified for the semifinals of the world correspondence chess championship.

Fort Collins police have an active investigation into Snyder's whereabouts, police spokeswoman Rita Davis said.

Snyder's probation requirements would have put him under global positioning system, or GPS, monitoring.

Snyder's former attorney, Fort Collins lawyer Andy Gavaldon, told the judge at Snyder's sentencing that Snyder accepted responsibility for his actions and knew he would have to deal with the consequences.

"I'm disappointed to hear that," Gavaldon said Friday when told by the Coloradoan that Snyder had disappeared. "I knew he was serving his sentence and didn't even know his release date."

Gavaldon said he stopped being paid as Snyder's attorney the day of his sentencing.

Snyder was not deemed a sexually violent predator by the state and no announcement was made about his release from the detention center, as was the case with two sexually violent predators that were released Monday.

Fort Collins resident Diane Fromme said she hosted a foreign exchange student who was under Snyder's tutelage and traveled with him to San Francisco for a chess tournament in 2006.

"He seemed to enjoy the club and never mentioned anything suspect or unusual," Fromme said of the exchange student. "Snyder might be completely reformed, but the fact that he's gone missing leads you to believe that he's not."

Source: http://www.coloradoan.com/"Snyder,..., will spend the next two years in the Larimer County Detention Center and at least 10 years after that on sex offender intensive supervised probation for performing oral sex on and inappropriately touching two male students and inappropriately touching a third."

Chess Master Sentenced For Sexual Assault

Mike Hooker Reporting

here is the video

 ...Under the deal Snyder will serve two years in the county jail instead of prison and he must be involved in a sex offender intensive supervised probation for at least 10 years.

...Larimer county prosecutors struck a plea deal with 52-year-old Robert Snyder. He appeared in court Wednesday.

One victim, who was 11 years old at the time he was assaulted, wrote a letter about the incident.

"He broke all the trust my family and I gave him," the victim wrote.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/4969455/detail.html

Robert Snyder Owns Chess For Juniors

POSTED: 4:50 pm MDT September 13, 2005

UPDATED: 2:13 pm MDT September 14, 2005

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- A well-known chess instructor for kids was arrested Tuesday on charges of sexual assault and police said they are looking for more potential victims.

Robert Michael Snyder, 50, of Fort Collins, Colo., is listed as the "Senior Master" with Chess for Juniors. Its Web site lists it as "one of the nation's largest and most active private chess clubs for youth." Snyder is the owner and sole instructor.

Police said they began a "lengthy investigation" after they received complains from children attending Snyder's chess camps about inappropriate touching and behavior by Snyder. Investigators also interviewed children and their parents and then obtained enough information for an arrest warrant.

Snyder was arrested Tuesday afternoon at the Scotch Pines shopping center in Fort Collins. He was jailed on two counts of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust and two counts of sexual assault on a child -- pattern of abuse. The alleged assaults occurred at his home on Silver Creek Drive in Fort Collins, according to police. The arrest warrant affidavit was sealed.

According to a recent article in the Fort Collins Coloradoan, Snyder also travels the world with children so they can participate in chess tournaments. According to a Denver Post article from February, Snyder has a children's playground in his back yard called "Fort Chess."

Snyder is author of several chess books published by Random House, which includes the bestseller "Chess For Juniors," and has written articles for "Chess Life" and "School Mates" magazines, according to his Web site. The Web site also said that Snyder taught the game to students such as actor Will Smith, and the son of actor Nicholas Cage.

Snyder is a former Western U.S. Chess Champion and qualified for the semifinals of the world correspondence chess championship, earning the highest score on the U.S. Olympic chess team, the Fort Collins Coloradoan reported in its Wednesday editions.

Police said they are continuing their investigation and would like anyone with information about this or other potential incidents to contact Detective Kim Cochran at (970) 224-6090.

Snyder was being held on a $750,000 bond in the Larimer County Detention Center.

And a 'warning' from OC crackpot, Charles Sendrey! 

----- Original Message -----

From: "charles sendrey" <csendrey@earthlink.net>

To: <labatechess@sbcglobal.net>

Sent: Wednesday, February 08, 2006 12:39 AM

Subject: Snyder

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=31310

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=62634

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=67937

Home | New Products | Chess Boards | Chess Books | Chess Sets | Chess Supplies | Daily Blog
"A" List of Friends | "F" List of Frauds | Payment and Shipping | PSA: My 61 Memorable Games
PSA: Robert Snyder | PSA: Upcoming Chess Events | PSA: Ed Trice/Gothic Chess | Contact ME