EAST ST. LOUIS — A 38-year-old former federal inmate pleaded guilty Thursday to an indictment charging him with escape.

Kim T. Collins, who was initially sentenced in 2013 to at least 5-years in prison on federal crack cocaine charges out of Marion County, faces a new term in federal prison of an additional 5-years on the escape conviction.

Collins’ sentencing is scheduled for August 7, 2015, in East St. Louis, Illinois. Collins has been detained (held without bond) since his arraignment on the Indictment in March 2015. 

Facts revealed in Court showed that on March 8, 2013, Collins was sentenced to a total of 135 months in prison for drug offenses. On September 4, 2014, Collins was furloughed from FCC-Forrest City to the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois (“USP-Marion”). With a furlough, the Bureau of Prisons allows low-risk inmates to travel from one facility to another without a law enforcement escort. In this case, Collins was to travel to Marion via Greyhound Bus and then take a taxi to the prison. Collins never showed up at USP-Marion, and never contacted either USP-Marion or FCC-Forrest City to explain why he did not do so. In fact, Collins had been picked up by an individual at the bus stop on September 4, 2014, and went to Alton rather than USP-Marion.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Prisons and the United States Marshals Service. The case is assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Angela Scott.