Samuel Israel III, 48, walked into the police station in Southwick, Mass., at about 9:15 a.m. wearing a colored T-shirt and shorts, identified himself and said he was a fugitive wanted by the federal government, officials said.
“He was polite, very contrite and a perfect gentleman at all times,” said Southwick police officer Paul Miles.
Israel disappeared June 9 just hours before he was to report to prison to begin serving a 20-year sentence handed down in April for his role in the collapse of the Bayou hedge funds.
Israel’s SUV was found abandoned on a bridge over the Hudson River in suburban New York City with the words “Suicide is Painless” — the theme song for the “MASH” television show — scrawled in dust on the hood.
Prosecutors said he and two other men scammed investors into putting $450 million into the funds by announcing nonexistent profits and providing fake audits, and made millions in commissions on trades that lost money for the investors. The collapse of the funds prompted calls for stricter oversight.
Frank Dawson, public information officer for the U.S. Marshals Service in Boston, said Israel was talking to his mother on his cell phone when he surrendered. He said the marshals’ service had been in contact for several days with Israel’s mother in Illinois and as a result, the surrender was “more or less expected.”
“Obviously, she probably had some kind of influence, which mothers usually do,” Dawson said. “He knew they were getting close to him, so he probably did the right thing.”
Officials said the recreational vehicle in which Israel fled was found in nearby Granville, Mass. Israel had planned to surrender in Granville but the town’s part-time police department was closed, so he rode a motor scooter to Southwick to turn himself in, they said.
Israel was expected to appear in federal court in Springfield, Mass., later Wednesday. A call to his lawyer, Lawrence S. Bader, wasn’t immediately returned.
from Associated Press reports
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