Defendant signed out of Residential Reentry Center in Boston
BOSTON - A man serving a sentence for bank robbery pleaded guilty and was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for escaping from custody.
Joseph Matz, 48, of Boston, pleaded guilty to one count of escape from federal custody before U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns. Judge Stearns immediately sentenced Matz to 27 months in prison, to be served concurrently with a sentence Matz is already serving in state prison in Virginia, and three years of supervised release.
In 2004, Matz was convicted of bank robbery. In August 2011, Matz was again convicted of bank robbery and sentenced to seven years in prison. Because his second conviction occurred while he was on supervised release from his 2004 conviction, Matz was sentenced to an additional year in prison to be served consecutive with his 2011 bank robbery conviction.
In July 2016, Matz was transferred from federal prison to a Residential Reentry Center in Boston, where he was to serve the remainder of his sentence until his release on Dec. 18, 2016. On Nov. 4, 2016, Matz was allowed to sign out of the Center on a “medical pass," and was required to return later that day; however Matz never returned to the Reentry Center and was placed on escape status.
On Dec. 1, 2016, Matz was arrested in Richmond, Va., for armed bank robbery. He subsequently pleaded guilty to that charge, and on May 23, 2017, was sentenced to 25 years in state prison with 15 years suspended. Matz is currently in state custody in Burkeville, Va.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and U.S. Marshal John Gibbons of the District of Massachusetts made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Soivilien of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
