Texas Man Indicted After Escape From Federal Custody

MINNEAPOLIS - A Texas man has been indicted for escaping from federal custody, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

According to court documents, on October 11, 2024, Ismael Benavidez, 48, was in custody of the Bureau of Prisons and lawfully confined to the Volunteers of America Residential Reentry Center in the District of Minnesota when he walked away without authorization. Benavidez was serving an initial sentence of 40 months' imprisonment and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to Conspiracy to Harbor Illegal Aliens on October 25, 2018, in the Western District of Texas.

The indictment charges Benavidez with one count of escape from custody. At his arraignment hearing today in U.S. District Court, Benavidez was ordered to be detained pending further proceedings by Magistrate Judge Dulce J. Foster.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Evan B. Gilead is prosecuting the case.