Brandon Devos, Walked Away from Re-entry Center, Cedar Rapids IA, 2023

Brandon Devos, a 30-year-old federal inmate from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for walking away from the Gerald R. Hinzman re-entry center. Devos was serving out the last few months of a sentence on federal drug charges when he tested positive for alcohol and left the center without permission.

According to court documents, Devos pleaded guilty to escape on February 28, 2014. As part of his plea agreement, Devos admitted to being convicted on December 7, 2006, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, of conspiracy to distribute heroin. He was originally sentenced to 104 months in federal prison.

Devos was transferred to the Hinzman Center, a residential re-entry center in Cedar Rapids, to help him transition back into society. He was permitted to leave the center to find employment, but on December 14, 2013, he tested positive for alcohol when he returned to the center. While staff waited to perform a second breathalyzer test, Devos walked away from the center without permission.

United States Marshals captured Devos two days later, hiding at a residence in Iowa City. He was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade to 21 months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed, and Devos must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term.

Devos is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison, where he will finish serving out his prior prison sentence before starting his new prison sentence. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney C.J. Williams and investigated by the United States Marshal’s Service.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl, with the case file number 14-cr-4-LRR. The sentence handed down to Devos serves as a reminder of the consequences of violating the terms of federal supervision. The incident highlights the importance of strict monitoring and enforcement of rules in re-entry centers to ensure public safety.