A 34-year-old man last known to be in Selma is now the target of a federal manhunt after authorities say he tried to swap his own urine for an unknown liquid during a required drug test, then tested positive for cannabinoids on a follow-up sample. Malcolm Jamar Hodges is wanted for allegedly violating the terms of his federal supervised release, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
Hodges was convicted in 2018 in federal court of being a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, according to Fox San Antonio. Per investigators, he tried to use an unknown liquid in place of his own urine during a drug test, and he was then required to provide another sample. That second sample tested positive for cannabinoids, per authorities, and federal officials say Hodges admitted to using marijuana while on supervised release.
Why a Failed Drug Test Triggers a Federal Warrant
Drug testing isn't optional for people on federal supervised release — it's a mandatory condition under federal law, and courts are required to revoke supervision if an offender refuses to comply or tests positive for controlled substances more than three times in a single year, per 18 U.S.C. § 3583. Federal probation protocols require that urine samples be collected under direct observation and screened with lab-grade Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry testing specifically designed to catch substituted or synthetic samples, according to the U.S. Courts.
Even after his term expires, federal law allows a court that issued a violation warrant before the supervision period ended to retain jurisdiction and still send an offender back to prison, according to Legal Information Services Associates. That statutory quirk means fleeing doesn't make the case disappear — it just delays the reckoning. Federal judicial data shows more than 80% of supervised release revocations end in a return to prison, and revocations account for more than one in three people entering the Federal Bureau of Prisons each year, according to Sentencing Stats.
A Pattern That Stretches Back More Than a Decade
This isn't the first time Hodges has drawn law enforcement attention over a firearm. In May 2012, a then-22-year-old Malcolm Jamar Hodges was arrested in Dunbar, West Virginia, and charged with wanton endangerment after allegedly firing a pistol-gripped 12-gauge shotgun into the floorboard of a car during a traffic stop while two young children were inside, according to the Hur Herald.
Technical violations like failed or falsified drug tests are far from rare in the federal system. About one-third of federal offenders on supervised release eventually face revocation, and technical violations — including failed or falsified drug screens — account for over two-thirds of revocations where no new crime was committed, per data cited by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Nationally, roughly 23% of people who try to falsify a drug test attempt sample substitution and another 20% try dilution, according to research published by CNS Occupational Medicine.
Texas Could Add Its Own Charges on Top of the Federal Case
Beyond the federal supervised release violation, Texas has its own law targeting exactly this kind of conduct. Using or possessing a substance or device designed to falsify drug test results is a Class B misdemeanor under Section 481.133 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine, per the legal reference cited in state statute.
The warrant for Hodges is being handled by the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force, which operates across 68 Texas counties and 93,000 square miles in the Western District of Texas, coordinating federal, state and local agencies to track high-risk fugitives — the same task force that Hoodline reported was tied to a Pecos fugitive's arrest earlier this month and a standoff that ended with an arrest in El Paso.
What Hodges Looks Like and Where to Report Tips
Hodges is described as 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing approximately 250 pounds, with a bald head and brown eyes. He has a rose tattoo on his upper right forearm and a cross tattoo on the underside of his right forearm, according to marshals. He was last known to be in Selma.
The U.S. Marshals Service is asking anyone with information on Hodges' whereabouts to contact the agency or the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force.
