Escapee from Federal Confinement Sentenced to One More Year in Prison

ERIE, Pa. - A former inmate of the McKean Federal Correctional Institution in Bradford, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court to 12 months and 1 day on his conviction of escape from federal custody, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.

United States District Judge David S. Cercone imposed the sentence on Ghassan Saleh, 66. The sentence was imposed to run consecutively to the 70 month sentence Saleh was serving at the time of his escape.

According to information presented to the court, on June 30, 1997, Saleh escaped from F.C.I. McKean while he was serving a term of imprisonment imposed by the Eastern District of Michigan for his conviction of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and heroin. Saleh escaped from prison and then fled the United States for Lebanon where he remained as a fugitive.

Assistant United States Attorney Marshall J. Piccinini prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Brady commended the Officers of the McKean Federal Correctional Institution and the United States Marshal’s Service for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Saleh.