A prisoner who escaped the custody of sheriff's deputies while being transported in a van along Interstate 95 in Waltham, Massachusetts, last month appeared in court Monday.
Victor De Moura-Pereira, 20, was arraigned on a misdemeanor charge of escaping from federal custody. He is currently in custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and will remain there, authorities said.
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If he is found guilty, he faces a year in prison a $100,000 fine and a year of probation. His next scheduled court appearance is on April 3, at 10 a.m. in Worcester District Court.
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Pereira escaped custody in February while being transported in a Plymouth County Sheriff's Department van. He was recaptured 45 minutes later at the MSPCA in Waltham following a manhunt. He had been arrested a day earlier in Framingham on an outstanding warrant.
When he escaped, the van Pereira was in was traveling south on I-95 when it became stuck in traffic as a result of emergency road repairs necessitated by a large pothole that had opened up on a bridge. The sheriff's department said he found a flaw in the design of the vehicle which allowed him to squeeze through the plexiglass and gain access to the emergency exit.