Man who Escaped from Halfway House Sent to Federal Prison

A man who signed out to go to work from a residential correctional facility in Waterloo, Iowa, and never returned was sentenced today to two years in federal prison.

Michael Jon Rohrick, age 35, from Waterloo, Iowa, received the prison term after a February 1, 2021 guilty plea to escape from custody.

At the guilty plea, Rohrick admitted he left the halfway house on April 10, 2020, without authorization.  He was on the loose for several months until he was apprehended in Waterloo as a result of a high-speed chase months later.

Rohrick was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Leonard T. Strand.  Rohrick was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment and fined $100.  He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.  There is no parole in the federal system.

Rohrick is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth Dupuich and investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service and the Waterloo Police Department. 

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 20-CR-2039.

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