After nearly eight years on the run, Eric Pree, a 55-year-old San Francisco man, is now facing the legal music with a fresh indictment for escape from federal custody, adding to his original offenses of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. According to the U.S. Attorneys Office, the indictment was issued by a federal grand jury today, and Pree could see a maximum of five more years behind bars on top of the 101-month sentence he's already serving.
In the land of criminal capers, Pree's 2012 conviction paints a portrait of a man entangled in a dubious quest for wealth through illicit means. Originally punished with a sentence that should have seen him locked away until roughly 2021, Pree decided that the concrete confines of the U.S. Penitentiary Atwater were not to his liking and vanished into thin air back on Jan. 29, 2017. The escapee lived outside the grasp of law enforcement until his recent capture in October 2024 in Walnut Creek, as reported by the U.S. Attorneys Office.
Pree's recent arrest brought to light a cache of items fit for someone keen on keeping their true identity a mystery. At the time of his re-capture, he possessed numerous cellphones, ID cards, debit and credit cards in various names, numerous driver's licenses, and an impressive yet counterfeit Harvard University Student ID. This assortment of paraphernalia suggests Pree's time as a fugitive was spent in a constant shuffle of personas, as per the U.S. Attorneys Office.
The journey of Pree from fugitive to detainee once again was the culmination of efforts by the Department of State and the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cody S. Chapple is leading the prosecution, which if successful, may add a significant chunk to Pree's time in custody. However, as the Department of Justice statement notes, "the charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," as mentioned by the U.S. Attorneys Office. As federal wheels of justice continue to grind, Pree finds himself shackled not only by the remnants of his original punishment but by the looming possibility of extended time for his bold but ill-advised escape.
