Second Escape From Federal Custody Leads To Additional Prison Time for Marion Man

Marion, Ill. – Ray Allen Flener, 32, of Marion, Illinois, has been sentenced to serve 18 months in
federal prison for escaping from custody. Flener pleaded guilty to the charge back in September.
This is Flener’s second escape conviction.

In 2013, Flener was charged with making a false statement to the FBI and conveying a false threat.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2014 to 48 months in prison. In 2018, Flener was transferred
from federal prison to the residential reentry center at Centerstone in Marion, Illinois. Shortly
thereafter, Flener left Centerstone without returning, forcing law enforcement to track him down
and arrest him. This led to his first conviction for escaping from custody, for which he received a
sentence of around four-and-a-half months of time served in pretrial detention.

In 2020, with just two months remaining on his sentence, Flener left Centerstone again, leading to
his second conviction for escaping from federal custody. The 18-month sentence imposed by the
federal district court in Benton, Illinois, will be served consecutively to the prison sentence
Flener was already serving.

The investigation was conducted by the United States Marsha s Service, with the assistance
of the Illinois State Police and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.