Texas man arrested, charged with escaping from Leavenworth penitentiary’s satellite camp
A 50-year-old Texas man who allegedly walked away from a prison camp at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth has been arrested and charged with one count of escaping from custody, according to court documents.
James Thompson, who was serving a sentence for mail fraud, was discovered missing and believed to have escaped from the satellite camp, a minimum security facility adjacent to the prison, on Nov. 9, according to a news release from the prison.
Thompson was present at the camp during the 5 a.m. count, and inmates and staff last reported seeing him about 6 a.m. within the facility, according court documents. Another count was conducted about 4 p.m. and Thompson was allegedly missing.
A criminal complaint was filed five days later in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas, accusing Thompson of escaping from custody. A warrant was issued for his arrest.
Thompson was arrested on Nov. 21 in Mount Pleasant, Texas, and was ordered to be returned to Kansas, according to court documents.
A federal grand jury indicted Thompson on Dec. 13 with one count of escaping from custody.
In April 2022, a federal judge in Georgia sentenced both Thompson and his wife, April Thompson, to six years and eight months in prison. They were convicted of mail fraud in the theft of more than $4 million from an Atlanta-based company that provides timberland investment advisory and management services for institutional investors, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.
