Escapee sentenced to time served

Man fled halfway house with 2 months left in drug sentence

A Cleburne County man sentenced to serve 69 months in federal prison and four years of supervised release in 2016 for his part in a major drug trafficking organization based in Clinton was sentenced to time served in federal custody Tuesday after pleading guilty to one count of escape.

Jeremy Dale Dunigan of Heber Springs walked away from City of Faith Halfway House in Little Rock on March 19, 2020, less than two months before the end of his term there, after providing a urine sample that tested positive for methamphetamine, according to court records. Dunigan was arrested by U.S. marshals on April 29, 2020, after he was found hiding in a closet in an apartment in Ward.

Chief U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. calculated that Dunigan’s recommended guideline sentence ranged from 15 to 21 months in prison, one to three years of supervised release, and a fine ranging from $1,000 to $9,500.

Dunigan’s attorney, Tamera Lee Deaver of the Federal Public Defenders Office in Little Rock, requested that Dunigan, who has been jailed since his arrest in 2020, be sentenced to time served.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Jegley did not object, pointing out that Dunigan had spent 17 months and 14 days in federal custody.

“The U.S. does believe Mr. Dunigan would benefit from supervision and we ask for a term of supervised release,” Jegley said. “Given his criminal history, the United States believes Mr. Dunigan might benefit from some drug treatment as well.”

Jegley said that while Dunigan was imprisoned on his earlier conviction, he had completed the Residential Drug Abuse Program administered by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and had received a year off of his sentence as a result.

Initially, Marshall expressed concern that not all of the time Dunigan had spent jailed since his April 2020 arrest would count as federal time and could not be used to calculate time served but Jegley said she had confirmed it with the U.S. Marshals office.

“He was set for release in May of 2020 so at the time of his escape in March of 2020 he had approximately two months left on his sentence at the halfway house,” Jegley said. She said the time he had spent in federal custody after he was recaptured and after his subsequent arrest on the escape indictment totaled 17 months 14 days in federal custody.

“I don’t believe there’s any need for more prison time,” Marshall said. “I do agree with the U.S. that supervision is helpful.”

After a short conference with Dunigan, Deaver asked Marshall to also recommend mental health counseling in addition to substance abuse treatment.

In addition to time served, Marshall ordered Dunigan to serve one year supervised release to run concurrent to his supervised release term related to his earlier drug conviction, ordered drug treatment and random drug testing and mental health counseling.

“In general you’ve got to do right and don’t run off again,” the judge told Dunigan. “Do what your probation officer tells you, be working or looking for a job, you may not possess a gun or other dangerous weapon or ammo or anything like that and you may not leave the Eastern District of Arkansas without permission.”