United States v. David Novak

David Novak (“Novak”) appeals his fifteen-month sentence for escaping from the Federal Prison Camp at Nellis Air Force Base (“Nellis”). Novak argues that the clock measuring the duration of his escape should have begun to tick when he was officially designated an escapee by the United States Marshals Service (“U.S.Marshals”), rather than when he actually departed from custody. We disagree. An escape begins when an inmate departs from lawful custody with the intent to evade detection. The district court correctly applied this definition of escape, and accordingly, we affirm Novak’s sentence.

BACKGROUND

The Federal Bureau of Prisons assigned Novak to Nellis after his conviction for bankruptcy fraud. While incarcerated, Novak worked at the Nellis Family Support Center, performing routine cleaning and maintenance tasks. As part of this work detail, Novak was subject to hourly spot-checks by prison officials.

On December 8, 2000, Novak boarded a bus from the prison dormitories to his work location at Nellis. At 8:30 AM, 9:50 AM, and 11:05 AM, Novak was accounted for and present at his work detail. Sometime after the 11:05 AM check, however, Novak slipped away from his work detail.…