Lexington Gang Member Returned to Federal Prison

COLUMBIA, S.C. -Jake Rupert, 40, of Lexington, was sentenced to two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to walkaway escape from a federal residential re-entry facility.

Evidence obtained in the investigation revealed that on the morning of March 5, 2024, Rupert walked away, without permission, from a federal halfway house in Columbia. In January 2024, Rupert transitioned to the halfway house from the Federal Bureau of Prisons to finish the last six months of the 96-month custodial sentence he received in 2017, for being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Deputies with the Lexington County Sheriff's Department located Rupert, a known gang member, inside a residence in Gaston on May 27, 2024. Rupert was taken into custody to serve the remainder of his original sentence and was also charged federally with escape.

Senior United States District Judge Cameron McGowan Currie sentenced Rupert to 24 months imprisonment, to be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision. There is no parole in the federal system.

This case was investigated by the United States Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Lexington County Sheriff's Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacey D. Haynes prosecuted the case.

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