prison

Convict captured 3 weeks after escape from NH halfway house, feds say

Michael Villanueva was serving a 10-year prison sentence for conspiracy to distribute drugs, and now faces the possibility of five more years in prison

Home Detention Curfew Device
Andrew Aitchison

A man who escaped a New Hampshire halfway house three weeks ago has been arrested and faces the possibility of going back to prison, federal prosecutors said Friday.

Michael Villanueva, a 43-year-old from New York, had been at Hampshire House Residential Reentry Center in Manchester between June and Jan. 10, when his GPS ankle bracelet was tampered with and he didn't return, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for New Hampshire.

Authorities had found messages deemed inappropriate on his phone, then told Villanueva to report to the halfway house, prosecutors said. But at 6:41 p.m., an alert came in to the Bureau of Prisons indicating Villanueva's monitor had been tampered with.

Villanueva was serving a 10-year prison sentence for conspiracy to distribute drugs; he faces five more years in prison over the allegation he escaped federal custody.

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