Escaped Drug Dealer Sentenced
PITTSBURGH, Pa. ‑ A resident of Turtle Creek and Pittsburgh, Pa., was sentenced today in federal court for a charge of escape from federal custody, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.
Dwayne Raymond Sims, a/k/a Dwane Raymond Sims, 50, was sentenced by United States District Judge Terrence F. McVerry.
The court was previously advised that the defendant was originally sentenced to 162 months of incarceration after being arrested in possession of more than four kilograms of cocaine en route from Arizona to Pittsburgh. Sims was eventually transferred to serve the remainder of his sentence at the Renewal Center in downtown Pittsburgh. While there for less than two months, Mr. Sims tested positive for drug use and then escaped on Nov. 30, 2009. The United States Marshal's Fugitive Task Force pursued him until he was apprehended on Oct. 5, 2010.
Noting the defendant's lengthy criminal history starting in 1976 when Sims was 15 years old, Judge McVerry sentenced the defendant to 11 months of incarceration consecutive to the approximately 26 additional months he has remaining on his original sentence.
Assistant United States Attorney Ross E. Lenhardt prosecuted this case on behalf of the government and noted that Judge McVerry appears to be the 13th judge the defendant has faced as a result of his 15 convictions.
The United States Marshals Service conducted the investigation that led to the apprehension and prosecution of Sims.
