A federal prison inmate was discovered missing Friday evening from the Lompoc federal prison camp, but authorities remained mum about the walkway for three days.
Armando Penunuri, 32, was determined to be missing at approximately 5:15 p.m. Friday from the Satellite Prison Camp, which is one of the the facilities at the Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex.
Federal prison officials described the inmate as a Hispanic man with black hair and brown eyes. Penunuri is 5 feet, 10 inches tall and weighs approximately 195 pounds.
The U.S. Marshals Service and other law enforcement agencies were notified and an internal investigation was initiated.
However, prison officials did not alert the community through the media about the walkaway inmate until Monday and only upon request.
The Satellite Prison Camp, with 440 male inmates, is a minimum-security facility adjacent the U.S. Penitentiary, Lompoc.
Inmates from federal prison camps are considered walkaways because they don’t reside within razor-wire topped fencing, and typically perform chores on prison grounds, only reporting to designated areas at certain times.
Penunuri was sentenced in the Western District of Tennessee to spend 120 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intend to distribute and distribution of oxycodone, methamphetamine and marijuana.
The Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex includes the medium-security U.S. Penitentiary with 1,250 inmates in addition to the 450 inmates at the prison camp.
The complex also includes the Federal Correctional Institution with 1,221 low-security inmates.
Anyone with information about the missing inmate can contact the Marshals Service at 805.346.2728.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.