Fugitive who fled Minnesota to North Carolina convicted of child porn charges
A Minneapolis man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison on child pornography charges after he fled the state while on supervised release.
John Wayne Drysdale, 69, was sentenced to 180 months in prison in U.S. District Court, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.
On Dec. 11 of 2020, the U.S. Marshals Service in Minneapolis contacted the USMS in western North Carolina about Drydale’s whereabouts, according to court documents. Drysdale was previously convicted of possession and receipt of child pornography and was on supervised released in Minnesota.
Drysdale removed his electronic monitoring device and fled to North Carolina, where authorities found him at a residence in Forest City.
Law enforcement seized Drysdale’s electronic devices upon his arrest. On them, they found images of child pornography, links to websites hosting child pornography and links to chat rooms commonly used by pedophiles.
Drysdale pleaded guilty in August to transportation of child pornography.
As part of his sentence, Drysdale will also serve a lifetime of supervised release following his time in prison and register as a sex offender.
