Marshals say W.Va. inmate likely had help escaping
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Authorities say an inmate who walked away from the federal prison in Morgantown likely had help escaping and won’t remain in the area.
Deputy U.S. Marshal Alex Neville tells media outlets 42-year-old Eugene Nicholas Cobbs is a Los Angeles native and may have been picked up in a blue Jeep Liberty.
In 2004, Cobbs wrecked a small plane carrying 520 pounds of cocaine near Wheeling. He was on the run until marshals caught him in 2008 in Mexico.
Prison spokeswoman Marilyn Veltri says Cobbs was at a higher-security New Jersey prison but was transferred in February because he’d served about half his more than 12-year sentence and was well behaved.
Cobbs is 5-foot-10, weighs 210 pounds and has tattoos of a tiger, a leopard, a tribal marking and a cross.