2 escape from federal prison

Published 9:50 am Monday, April 1, 2013

DULUTH — Authorities on Sunday asked residents in the Duluth area to keep an eye out for two men serving time for fraud who went missing from a low-security federal prison camp.

The inmates are 64-year-old Michael Krzyzaniak, who is serving a 12-year sentence for bilking investors out of nearly $26 million, and 67-year-old Gerald Greenfield, who’s serving four years for conspiracy to commit money laundering in a $2.5 million mortgage fraud scheme.

The men were discovered missing from the camp during the 10 p.m. head count Saturday, prison spokesman David Baker said. The camp is on the former Duluth Air Force Base.

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“We are a minimum-level facility, so to the best our knowledge they walked away,” Baker said. “There’s not a secure perimeter there. They’re nonviolent offenders.”

Although neither man is considered dangerous, Baker said anyone who sees them should call 911.

Greenfield was scheduled to be released in November 2015. Krzyzaniak’s sentence runs until April 2022.In a plea agreement two years ago, Krzyzaniak, also known as Michael Joseph Crosby, admitted conducting a scheme to defraud people by persuading them to invest money in prospective business projects. The projects turned out to be fraudulent.

Krzyzaniak a large portion of the money on personal expenses and a lavish lifestyle that included courtside seats for Minnesota Timberwolves games and a $130,000 Mercedes-Benz.

Greenfield was sentenced to 50 months in prison in January 2012 after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. He and another man were indicted in a fraud scheme that involved the sale of condominiums in downtown Minneapolis.

Krzyzaniak is white, 6 feet tall, weighs 200 pounds and has brown hair and hazel eyes. Greenfield is white, 5-foot-9 and 150 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes.

A message left Sunday with the U.S. Marshal Service, which is leading the search, was not immediately returned.