NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Federal officials say they have arrested a fugitive in Tennessee who has been on the run for five years amid a drug conviction.
Acting U.S. Attorney Jack Smith's office says 72-year-old Ronald Eli Lewis of Sparta was arrested by U.S. Marshals and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agents Wednesday morning in Cumberland County.
A news release says Lewis and his cousin, Clifford Lewis, were convicted in March 2012 of a drug conspiracy stemming from an attempted delivery of more than 900 pounds of marijuana to their family farm in Sparta in March 2007. Prosecutors showed evidence that the delivery was part of a larger scheme.
Prosecutors say Lewis was free on bond in March 2012 when he stopped coming to trial a few days after it began. He was convicted anyway.