Clemente Valdez, Jr., 36, of Dallas, pleaded guilty on April 11, 2019, to escape and was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone. This sentence will be added to the remainder of the federal sentence Valdez was serving as a result of his 2012 conviction on federal drug trafficking charges at the time of his escape from federal custody earlier this year.
According to information presented in court, on Jan. 12, 2019, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a citizen near the Bureau of Prison Camp Facility in west Jefferson County reporting they had witnessed inmates crossing a pasture and getting picked up by a vehicle on Hillebrandt Road. A Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputy pulled over the vehicle shortly afterwards and found Valdez and another escapee inside. The inmates were transported back to the prison facility by law enforcement officers and indicted by a federal grand jury on Feb. 6, 2019.
“This is one of several inmates who have walked away in recent months from the prison camp, which is a minimum security facility for low risk inmates, usually serving the final portion of their sentences," said United States Attorney Joseph D. Brown. “Regardless of the circumstances, they escaped from a prison facility and anyone who does so will be prosecuted, along with anyone on the outside that helps the escape."
Valdez was sentenced to over 17 years in federal prison in 2012 for conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Valdez was also convicted of marijuana trafficking in 2003 and served state prison time in North Carolina for that offense.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston. #
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
