TEXARKANA, Ark. - A man who allegedly cut off his ankle monitor when he was supposed to be on house arrest in connection with a federal firearms charge has been charged with escape.
Michael Shawn Bishop, 46, was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison in 2017 for possessing a firearm while a convicted felon. As part of his plea agreement, a methamphetamine distribution charge was dismissed.
According to a criminal complaint on file in the Texarkana Division of the Western District of Arkansas, Bishop was released from prison in December under the supervision of a Little Rock half-way house. Bishop allegedly checked in physically with the half-way house on Jan. 20 but never returned to his home in Texarkana, Texas, where he was supposed to be living under house arrest until Jan. 31.
A GPS monitor Bishop was required to wear around his ankle allegedly showed he made it to Texarkana on Jan. 20 but didn't go home as required. The monitor allegedly showed Bishop was at the Venus Adult Superstore in Texarkana, Arkansas.
"The monitor was then removed and appeared to be left in the area of the adult novelty store," the complaint states.
According to the complaint, Bishop agreed to turn himself in during a conversation with a deputy U.S. Marshal but never did. Bishop was arrested on a drug charge in Bowie County, Texas, in March.
Bishop appeared Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Bryant on the criminal complaint charging him with escape. Bryant appointed Texarkana lawyer Jeff Harrelson to represent Bishop.
Bishop remains in federal custody.