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20 Years Later, Iowa Man Wanted On LSD Charges Is In Custody

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man who fled authorities in 1994 while facing LSD charges is back in custody more than 20 years later.

Court records show the U.S. Marshals Service took 49-year-old Matthew Samuel West into custody Dec. 27. The former fugitive wanted by the FBI is being held at the Linn County Jail.

West once owned a Cedar Rapids tie-dye shop, played in a band and sold shirts at Grateful Dead concerts. He had faced an arrest warrant since April 1994 after skipping a court hearing.

A jury convicted West in 1992 of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute LSD. Additional drug and money laundering charges were pending against him.

West fled while free during his appeal, before a hearing on whether his pretrial release should be revoked.

(© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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