Davenport Arsonist Bolts From Halfway House, Lands Extra Time

DAVENPORT, Iowa – Darrell Anthony Rice, 24, of Davenport, is headed back to a federal lockup after adding escape to his rap sheet. Chief U.S. District Judge John A. Jarvey handed down a 22-month sentence on February 23, 2018, following Rice’s guilty plea for escaping the Davenport Residential Re-Entry Center.

The escape wasn’t a clean getaway. Rice was already serving time for a 2012 federal arson conviction, a sentence that landed him 70 months behind bars. In December 2016, he was transferred to the Davenport facility as part of a Bureau of Prisons agreement, with a scheduled release date of June 1, 2017. The deal came with strings attached: Rice was required to wear a GPS monitoring device while at the re-entry center.

He severed those strings, literally. On February 6, 2017, Rice brazenly walked out of the Davenport facility without permission, ripped off his GPS tracker, and vanished. The feds didn’t have to look far. On April 19, 2017, the U.S. Marshals Service tracked Rice down in Davenport, but not before he’d picked up new charges – this time for state drug offenses.

The additional charges didn’t stick, but they bought the Marshals time. Now, on top of his original arson sentence, Rice will serve an additional 22 months. Judge Jarvey also tacked on three years of supervised release after his prison term and ordered him to pay $100 to the Crime Victim’s Fund. A small price to pay for attempting to dodge justice.

The investigation into Rice’s escape was a joint effort, involving the U.S. Marshals Service, the Seventh Judicial District Department of Correctional Services, and the Davenport Police Department. They did the legwork, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa delivered the conviction.

This case serves as a stark reminder that cutting corners on federal sentences doesn’t pay. For Rice, a brief taste of freedom has resulted in more time behind bars, proving that the system, however flawed, still has teeth. He’ll have plenty of time to reflect on his choices – inside a cell, of course.”