Officials: Orange County man caught 23 years after escaping New Jersey prison

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A 73-year-old man was arrested Thursday in Orange County's Pine Hills neighborhood, 23 years after he escaped a New Jersey prison, the U.S. Marshals Service said.

Enrique Silva had served six years of an eight- to 20-year sentence for possession and distribution of narcotics in May 1995, when he ran away from a work detail at Riverfront State Prison in Camden, New Jersey, said agency spokesman Mike Schroeder.

Investigators said that in February, they learned that Silva might be living with a woman at a North Pine Hills Road home.

"Marshals and task force officers from the Florida task force immediately positioned themselves outside the residence and conducted covert surveillance," Schroeder said. "Unit investigators and a federal marshal from the New Jersey task force flew down to Orlando and teamed up with the officers on surveillance."

Investigators said they saw Silva walking in and out of the home, so they entered it. Silva tried to escape through a back door, but he was arrested, officials said.

Silva was taken to the Orange County Jail, where he will be held until he's extradited to New Jersey.

"These individuals who have failed to fulfill the sentences handed down to them by the courts cannot escape justice," said Gary Lanigan, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Corrections.

Cox Media Group