Man who escaped from S.D. prison 10 years ago caught

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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - An FBI agent says tips from television viewers led to the arrest of a man in Utah 10 years after he escaped from a South Dakota prison farm.

Sioux Falls station KSFY recently featured Michael McAfee on a program about people who are wanted by law enforcement. FBI Special Agent E.K. Wilson says viewers tipped agents to look for McAfee in Salt Lake City, where he was arrested in a hotel on July 21.

McAfee is jailed on $100,000 bond. He'll be brought back to South Dakota to be prosecuted.

The 56-year-old McAfee was assigned to work at the West Farm program outside of Sioux Falls when he fled in a state vehicle on May 18, 1999. The vehicle was later recovered in Omaha, Neb. At the time of his escape, McAfee was serving a 10-year sentence for grand theft in Minnehaha County.

The FBI says a federal warrant was issued Aug. 1, 2000, for McAfee's arrest on a charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

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