Man who left Bloomfield halfway house for court and failed to return pleads guilty to escape charge
A Connecticut man has pleaded guilty to escaping a halfway house where he was serving out the remainder of a prison sentence in connection with a federal firearm charge.
Jonathan McEwen, 34, formerly of Vernon pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in New Haven to escaping from the custody of the Attorney General, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut.
According to federal officials, on Feb. 14, 2022, McEwen was sentenced in Hartford federal court to 42 months in prison on a charge of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. On Aug. 1, 2023, he was transferred from a federal prison in Berlin, New Hampshire, to the Drapelick Center, a Residential Reentry Center (also known as a halfway house) in Bloomfield, to finish out his sentence, officials said.
McEwen was granted permission to leave the center on Nov. 27, 2023, to attend a hearing in Manchester Superior Court. According to officials, he left to attend the hearing and never returned. He was arrested a little over a week later on state charges tied to the escape and was taken into custody by Connecticut State Police and the Hartford Police Department, federal officials said.
McEwen has been in custody since the arrest. He was transferred to federal custody on Jan. 26. At sentencing, he will face a maximum of five years in prison.
