Man from Missouri sentenced to 18 months in prison for failure to surrender to serve prison sentence

MONROE, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that Gary Lynn Ward, 51, of St. Charles, Missouri, was sentenced on Wednesday by United States District Judge Terry Doughty to serve 18 months in prison.  Ward pleaded guilty on March 6, 2019, to an indictment charging him with failure to surrender for service of sentence.  The 18-month sentence will run consecutive to the previous 46-month prison sentence he received on June 29, 2015, resulting in a total of 64 months in prison.

Ward, who is a former resident of Ouachita Parish, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, Western District of Louisiana, on March 9, 2015, to conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids, and was sentenced on June 29, 2015, to 46 months in prison.  He was required to self-surrender on August 3, 2015, but Ward filed a motion on July 23, 2015, to extend his reporting date, which was granted.  His self-surrender date was then set for September 14, 2015.

Ward’s spouse contacted the U.S. Marshals Service in Shreveport on the day of his surrender to inform them that they were traveling by car to St. Louis, Missouri, so Ward could report to U.S. Marshals Service there.  While at a gas station, Ward stated that he was “not going back to jail,” forced his wife out of the car and sped away.  He never reported to the U.S. Marshals Service in St. Louis or his designated Bureau of Prisons facility at FCI Forrest City Low, in Forrest City, Arkansas.  Law enforcement agents arrested Ward on January 7, 2017, in the St. Louis, Missouri, area for failing to report to prison.

The U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown prosecuted the case.