Captured Fugitive Charged with Failure to Report for Sentence

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that a grand jury in Scranton indicted Joseph P. Donahue, age 56, of Scranton, Pennsylvania, yesterday for failure to surrender for service of a federal sentence.

According to United States Attorney Peter J. Smith, Donahue was convicted of bank fraud, credit card fraud, false statements, and money laundering last year. He was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge James M. Munley to 121 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay restitution of over $325,000 to the victims at a hearing on December 2, 2010, and ordered to surrender to U.S. Marshals or the Bureau of Prisons on January 4, 2011. Donahue failed to appear on the appointed date. A warrant was issued. Donahue was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Las Cruses, New Mexico on January 20, 2011.

If convicted, Donahue could be imprisoned for a total statutory maximum sentence of up to 10 years and a fine in the amount of $250,000.

The investigation was conducted by the United States Marshals Service and the FBI. The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Todd K. Hinkley.

An indictment or information is not evidence of guilt but simply a description of the charge made by the grand jury and/or United States Attorney against a defendant. A charged defendant is presumed innocent until a jury returns a unanimous finding that the United States has proven the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt or until the defendant has pled guilty to the charges.