Escaped inmate arrested in DC after fleeing reentry facility in Baltimore

WASHINGTON — A D.C. man is back in federal custody and could be looking at even more time behind bars after allegedly fleeing from a residential reentry facility in August.

Michael Washington Taylor, 20, was arrested Friday in the District on a warrant for escaping federal custody. He was expected to make his initial appearance in federal court in D.C. on Monday.

Taylor was convicted in January 2023 of robbery in connection with an armed carjacking a year earlier in the 2300 block of Good Hope Road SE. At the time, he was already on GPS monitoring in connection with a separate carjacking in November 2018.

A D.C. Superior Court judge sentenced Taylor last year to 40 months, or 3.3. years, in prison. He received approximately 10 months of credit for time already served following his arrest and was assigned to FCI Schuykill in Minersville, Pennsylvania, to serve his sentence.

On Aug. 8 of this year, Taylor was transferred to a Volunteers of America residential reentry facility in Baltimore to complete the remainder of his time. Under the First Step Act, certain inmates who earn so-called “good time” credit are eligible to serve up to the final year of their federal sentence in a halfway house to allow them to begin seeking employment while they remain under Bureau of Prisons supervision.

Roughly two weeks after Taylor was transferred to Baltimore, the BOP issued a notice that he had violated the conditions required to remain in the reentry facility and ordered him returned to custody. But when U.S. Marshals arrived to transport him, Taylor allegedly ran out a side door and fled the area.

The BOP officially classified him as an escaped federal prisoner on Aug. 27 and on Sept. 3, a warrant was issued for his arrest on a new charge of escape from federal custody. The charge is a felony that carries a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison. Taylor could also potentially face the loss of any previously earned good time credit.