- Frank Gene Powell, convicted of murder and fraud, escaped federal custody in January.
- The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole issued a warrant on Jan. 30 for Powell's arrest.
- Despite Powell's violent history, the Federal Bureau of Prisons did not alert the public.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole has issued a warrant for a Utah man convicted of murder, aggravated sexual assault and fraud, among several other crimes, after he left a federal halfway house and did not return last month.
Frank Gene Powell, 57, is listed as "escaped" in the Federal Bureau of Prisons' online inmate locator as of Jan. 16.
A warrant for his arrest was issued by Utah's parole board on Jan. 30, but the bureau did not alert the public about Powell's fugitive status despite his lengthy and violent criminal history.
Criminal background
Powell was most recently sentenced to serve 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2020 to a slew of federal charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and tampering with a witness. He was also ordered to pay nearly $274,000 in restitution after targeting an 80-year-old widow in a "romance fraud" scheme.
"Powell is a career criminal who has fended off decades of rehabilitative attempts in the Utah state criminal justice system. He's a convicted murderer and sexual predator who has now turned his criminal efforts to elder fraud while on state parole," former U.S. Attorney for Utah John Huber said in 2020.
Powell was on parole when he defrauded the woman after he spent nearly three decades in the Utah State Prison for murdering a man in Utah County in 1987 in what began as a fight over whose truck was faster. Powell ran over and killed Glen Candland, 20, after a house party in Pleasant Grove.
Powell is also convicted of two felony counts of aggravated sexual assault against another inmate while incarcerated.
'Escaped'
In a statement to KSL Tuesday, the Federal Bureau of Prisons' Office of Public Affairs said Powell was transferred on June 25, 2025, from FCI Terminal Island, a low security federal prison in California, to community confinement overseen by the Bureau of Prisons' Phoenix Residential Reentry Management Office.
"Community confinement means the inmate is in either home confinement or a Residential Reentry Center (RRC, or halfway house)," according to the statement. "Generally, inmates on community confinement status are allowed outside of the RRC or their residence (if on home confinement) for work, counseling, medical appointments, recreation and other approved activities."
Powell failed to report back to the residential reentry center he was assigned to in January, according to the statement, which is when he was listed as "escaped."
The Bureau of Prisons initially declined to say whether the facility Powell walked away from is in Utah, writing, "For privacy, safety and security reasons, we do not specify an individual's specific location while in community confinement."
When pressed about whose safety the agency is concerned about, a spokesperson then confirmed Powell walked away from Cornell Corrections Inc. in Salt Lake City.
No alert to the public
In response to questions from the KSL Investigators about why no notice was provided to the public at that time, the agency wrote, "We do not issue press releases for inmates who walk away from or fail to report back to community confinement. However, all escapes are immediately reported to the appropriate law enforcement agencies, including the United States Marshals Service, to ensure the public is well-informed and prepared."
The KSL Investigators have reached out to the U.S. Marshals Service with questions about their policy on notifying the public. We have not yet heard back.
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