FARGO - A fugitive who evaded authorities for 11 months has been arrested in a major drug conspiracy case and may face the death penalty, federal officials say.

Martin Carrillo was arrested Tuesday at an apartment in Kirkland, Wash., without incident, U.S Attorney Drew Wrigley said. Carrillo, 20, will be brought back to North Dakota to face more than 20 charges, including death caused by use of firearm during a crime of violence.

Wrigley would not give details of how authorities found Carrillo.

U.S Marshal David Carpenter said he did not know how long Carrillo had been in Kirkland.

"When he was arrested, he wouldn't admit to who he was," Carpenter said. "Through other means, he was identified."

Nearly 60 people have been arrested in the case known as "Operation Speed Racer," involving an operation that authorities said brought drugs from Mexico and the West Coast to North Dakota, Minnesota and other states.

Five men, including Carrillo, have been charged in the death of Lee Avila, 28, of East Grand Forks, Minn. Jorge "Sneaky" Arandas, the alleged ringleader of the drug conspiracy, and Michael Petzold have pleaded guilty. Gabriel Martinez and Alan Wessels are scheduled for trial in January.

Authorities said earlier that Avila was killed in a dispute over the size of a shipment of methamphetamine, and that Arandas had sent Martinez, Wessels, Petzold and Carrillo to East Grand Forks to settle it.

Federal prosecutors declined to seek the death penalty against Arandas, Martinez and Wessels. Petzold pleaded guilty before prosecutors could consider capital punishment.

"Just a guess … my guess is they'll want me to recommend that we not seek the death penalty (against Carrillo)," Wrigley said.

The television show "America's Most Wanted" had planned to run Carrillo's story, Wrigley said.

He praised the work of investigators, saying North Dakota does not have many federal suspects on the lam.

"We have tripled the number of federal indictments in the last three years running, and to still get such a low number of federal fugitives is really extraordinary," Wrigley said.