Springfield, Illinois – A local man has pleaded guilty after leaving the Family Guidance Center, a halfway house located at 120 N. 11th St. in Springfield, IL, and cutting off his ankle monitor at a Casey’s Gas Station.

On September 23, 2020, Brian S. Edwards, age 39, received a 46-month imprisonment sentence with 4 years of supervision for violating the terms of his Supervised Release. He initially faced charges on June 22, 2009, related to amphetamine, leading to a conviction and a 96-month imprisonment sentence with 4 years of supervised release.

On July 6, 2023, Edwards was transferred from the United States Penitentiary (USP) Pekin to the Family Guidance Center Residential Reentry Center at 120 N. 11th St., Springfield. The Family Guidance Center is a contracted Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facility assisting individuals in adjusting to life outside of prison. Therefore, when Edwards entered the Family Guidance Center (FGC), this placement remained part of his BOP custodial sentence under BOP supervision.

On November 3, 2023, at approximately 6:00 p.m., staff at the Family Guidance Center observed Edwards, without authorization, running out of the building without shoes or socks, displaying erratic behavior after pacing around. The staff last saw Edwards getting into his Silver Ford Fusion and driving away.

On the same day, the Central District of Illinois U.S. Marshal Service Springfield Office received an escape notification from the Federal Bureau of Prisons for Brian S. Edwards.

Later on that day, state and local officers located Edwards’s vehicle in Greenview, IL, at the local Casey’s Gas Station around 7:58 p.m. Local officers interviewed clerks who stated that Edwards had entered the store and requested to use a pair of scissors. Once he had the scissors, Edwards bent over and cut off his GPS ankle monitor, leaving it in the store. State and local officers searched the area, arresting Edwards in Greenview, IL at around 10:27 p.m. Edwards was then transported to the Sangamon County Jail (BOP contract jail) due to violating the rules of the Family Guidance Center.

On December 11, 2023, Edwards pleaded guilty to a single federal charge of escape. Subsequently, he was released from Federal Bureau of Prisons custody and is currently awaiting sentencing