After pleading guilty to stealing mailbox keys in 1994, Bandele Adekunle Adeneye was supposed to turn himself in to serve two years in federal prison.
But he never showed up. Instead, Adeneye fled Georgia and avoided capture for 17 years by assuming another identity, according to U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.
Now, Adeneye faces up to 10 years in prison following his indictment Wednesday on charges of escape and bail jumping, the attorney’s office said.
“Those who flee to avoid serving their sentence should understand that they will be found and brought to justice,” Yates said in an emailed statement.
The U.S. Postal Service arrested Adeneye in 1994 for theft and possession of stolen mail in the Northern District of Georgia, and the suspect pleaded guilty to the unlawful possession of stolen mailbox keys, Yates said. He was sentenced to serve two years in federal prison, and ordered to pay more than $89,000 in restitution to the victims of his crimes.
In September 1995, Adeneye had the option of turning himself in to U.S. Marshals in Atlanta or to the Federal Correctional Institute in Tallahassee. He did neither, Yates’ office said.
Adeneye remained a fugitive until an investigation by several U.S. Marshals led them to a man they believed to be Adeneye living in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, under a fake name. Marshals, along with an Ohio fugitive task force, arrested Adeneye, now 45.
If he is convicted, Adeneye’s charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000.
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