FRESNO – A 55-year-old San Francisco man is back in custody nearly eight years after escaping from a high-security federal prison in Merced County, according to authorities.
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Investigators arrested Eric Pree in Walnut Creek in October, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release. Last week, a federal grand jury returned a one-count indictment charging him with escape from custody.
If convicted of the charge, Pree faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Pree was convicted in 2012 of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges. He was sentenced to nearly 8½ years in prison and transferred to U.S. Penitentiary Atwater.
On Jan. 29, 2017, Pree was discovered missing from the prison.
“Pree did not have permission to leave the Atwater facility and remained at large until his arrest,” prosecutors said.
At the time of his arrest, Pree allegedly had several cellphones, ID cards, debit and credit cards in different people’s names, multiple drivers’ licenses and a fake Harvard University ID.
Pree is back in federal custody serving the remainder of his original sentence while also facing his new indictment for the escape, prosecutors said.