A Texas man has been indicted following his escape from federal custody, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

Court documents reveal that Ismael Benavidez, 48, escaped on October 11, 2024. At the time, he was under the custody of the Bureau of Prisons and was confined at the Volunteers of America Residential Reentry Center in Minnesota. Benavidez had been serving a sentence of 40 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens on October 25, 2018, in Texas.

The indictment accuses Benavidez of one count of escape from custody. During his arraignment hearing today at the U.S. District Court, Magistrate Judge Dulce J. Foster ordered that he be detained pending further proceedings.

The investigation leading to this indictment was conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Evan B. Gilead is handling the prosecution for this case.