YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A man who was temporarily released from a northeast Ohio prison on Wednesday to attend his daughter’s funeral and never returned has been arrested, the United States Marshals Service announced.
Joe Fletcher III is under indictment for possessing a firearm, as well as possession with the intent to distribute controlled substances.
Fletcher was being held at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center without bond when he learned this month his young daughter had died and filed a motion to attend her funeral services.
Prosecutors approved his release, but asked that he be escorted by U.S. Marshals, saying Fletcher “has not provided any information that would show a decrease in risk of flight or the danger he poses to the safety of the community.”
Despite this, Federal Judge Solomon Oliver granted Fletcher’s temporary release from the prison on Wednesday, allowing him to be accompanied by his mother and no guards or tracking device, provided he return to the facility by 7 p.m. that day.
On Friday, U.S. Marshals released a statement Fletcher was found hiding in the basement of a home in Akron.
A 29-year-old woman with active warrants was also arrested out of the home, according to the release.
Fletcher went viral in 2018 when he took credit for a murder during a Facebook Live from inside an Atlanta prison.
“What happened, happened. The streets is the streets,” Fletcher said during the video. “Everyone know I did it, I did it yeah.”
Fletcher previously served four years in prison for illegally possessing a firearm. At the time of his sentencing, the city’s police chief described Fletcher as being “one of Akron's most dangerous individuals.”
After being released on parole, Fletcher was arrested again in 2019 for allegedly beating his girlfriend. At the time of that arrest, a judge ordered Fletcher to leave Ohio.
Fletcher did not heed that order, leading Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers on a high-speed chase the following year.
During that incident, records state Fletcher posted a Facebook Live, during which he threatened to shoot police if they attempted to arrest him.
