Escaped Fugitive Caught In CT, US Marshals Say

A convicted drug dealer who escaped from a federal prison facility in Georgia last month has been captured in Connecticut.

U.S. Federal Court in Hartford.
Photo Credit: *File*

Zak Failla

04/19/2019 1:00 p.m.

The US Marshals Service announced that 43-year-old Israel Rodriguez-Zayes has been apprehended and was taken into custody this week by members of the Violent Fugitive Task Force in Willimantic.

In 2013, Rodriguez-Zayes was sentenced to 15 years in prison for selling crack cocaine, heroin and using weapons to advance a drug trafficking crime. He escaped from captivity at the facility in Jessup, Georgia, on March 2. He was captured on Tuesday, April 16.

According to the Marshals Service, agents tracked Rodriguez-Zayes to Connecticut, where he was working as a mechanic in Willimantic. After appearing in Hartford federal court, Rodriguez-Zayes is currently awaiting extradition back to Georgia, where he will face additional time behind bars on a warrant for escaping prison.

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