Longtime Fugitive Gets 20 Years

TYLER — A Smith County man who was facing aggravated sexual assault of a child, bond forfeiture, and several indecency with a child warrants was sentenced to 20 years in prison Thursday after being on the run for 13 years. KETK reports that on May 15, U.S. Marshals in Spokane, Washington, arrested Robert Dean Reese, 54, who had been on the lam since 2002. Reese had been wanted by the Smith County Sheriff’s Office.

On April 20, the Joint East Texas Fugitive Task Force (JETF) in Tyler received a tip that Reese was in Tacoma, Washington. The tip was initiated through the John Walsh show “The Hunt.” After verifying the information, a request for assistance was sent to the USMS in Tacoma. On April 21, the USMS conducted several interviews which developed information that Reese had been living on boats in a small harbor outside Tacoma for the last ten years. He rarely left this small community and even arranged for his groceries to be brought to him so he wouldn’t have to leave his boat. The investigation revealed that Reese left this community around March 2015, shortly after “The Hunt” focused on his fugitive case.

The USMS in Tacoma developed information that Reese was possibly living with a person in Spokane. The afternoon of May 15, an individual and a positive location were identified by USMS investigators in Tacoma. This new information was sent to the USMS in Spokane, where the deputy marshals conducted surveillance and identified Reese at the location. Deputy marshals arrested Reese without incident as he was sitting on the back porch of the residence, and he quickly admitted he was the wanted fugitive.