A man is accused of fleeing a federal prison eight years ago and becoming a pastor in the Hudson Valley.

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On Thursday around 6 a.m., the Ellenville Police Department along with the United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force used a warrant at an apartment at the Emerland Pond Estates on Route 209 in Ellenville to find and arrest 45-year-old Tomas Morales Cresente AKA Pastor Danny Rivera of Ellenville.

Cresente was wanted for walking away from a federal prison in 2012, where he was serving an over 7-year prison sentence for possession of guns and narcotics, police say.

After leaving prison, Cresente changed his name and moved to Ellenville where he became the pastor of the Inglesia de Dios church on Market Street in the Village of Ellenville, according to the Ellenville Police Department.

Cresente was transported by US Marshals to Pennsylvania where he will be arraigned by a federal judge.

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