Sherman Kemp, the 47-year-old federal inmate known on the street as “Goose,” is back in U.S. custody after a six-week international manhunt that ended on Oct. 22, 2026, in the Dominican Republic — nearly 50 days after he escaped from federal custody in Miami on Sept. 10 while serving a nearly 30-year sentence for drug trafficking and firearms convictions.
TL;DR: Convicted cocaine trafficker Sherman Kemp, 47, aka “Goose,” escaped federal custody in Miami on Sept. 10, 2026. After a six-week manhunt, U.S. Marshals and the FBI caught him without incident in the Dominican Republic on Oct. 22. He was flown back to the United States on Oct. 23 and turned over to the Marshals in Miami. He had been serving an aggregate 324-month sentence, with a projected release date of May 28, 2036.
The escape
Kemp slipped out of federal custody in Miami on Sept. 10, 2026, while being moved during a transfer at a federal detention facility in southern Miami-Dade County, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. Local coverage from Miami station Local 10 News described him at the time as an infamous convicted cocaine dealer who vanished during the transfer.
What Kemp was serving time for was no small matter. He had been sentenced in the District of Maryland and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to an aggregate 324-month sentence — 27 years — for conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine, and conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin. His projected release date was May 28, 2036.
The manhunt
For six weeks, federal authorities chased leads across multiple states and eventually beyond U.S. borders. The investigation pulled in an unusually wide net of agencies: U.S. Marshals districts in Georgia, Florida, Illinois, Virginia and Maryland; the Marshals’ Office of International Operations Dominican Republic Field Office; FBI field offices in Miami, Baltimore and Atlanta; Homeland Security Investigations; Customs and Border Protection; the Homeland Security Task Force in Miami; and U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the Southern District of Florida, the Southern District of Georgia and the District of Maryland.
The trail led to the Dominican Republic, where investigators homed in on Kemp through the Marshals’ Dominican Republic Foreign Field Office Fugitive Investigative Unit — a team of specially vetted Dominican law enforcement officers drawn from the country’s National Directorate for Drug Control (DNCD) that works exclusively on U.S. Marshals fugitive investigations.
The capture
The manhunt ended in the afternoon hours of Oct. 22, when the FIU team apprehended Kemp in the Dominican Republic without incident, acting under a Dominican deportation order tied to his outstanding U.S. federal warrant. The very next day, Oct. 23, Kemp was returned to the United States and turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service in Miami.
In its announcement, the Marshals Service credited the FIU as “instrumental” in locating and apprehending Kemp, and described the six-week pursuit as one that drew on coordination between American and Dominican law enforcement at every level.
What comes next for Kemp
Kemp is once again in federal custody, and he still faces the long road of the 324-month sentence he was serving — now almost certainly compounded by potential escape-related charges. The Marshals Service said the escape itself remains under investigation and released no additional details about how Kemp managed to flee or how he made it to the Dominican Republic.
For now, the “Stop-Snitching” nickname that headlined the Marshals’ announcement has been retired by an arrest report: Kemp is a fugitive no longer.
Featured image: file photo of a U.S. Marshals Service fugitive operation. Credit: Fox 2 Detroit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Sherman Kemp?
Sherman Kemp, 47, also known as “Goose,” is a convicted federal drug trafficker who was serving an aggregate 324-month (27-year) sentence for cocaine and heroin distribution conspiracies and multiple firearms offenses before his Sept. 10, 2026, escape from federal custody in Miami.
When did Sherman Kemp escape?
He escaped on Sept. 10, 2026, during a transfer at a federal detention facility in southern Miami-Dade County, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
Where was Sherman Kemp captured?
He was apprehended in the afternoon of Oct. 22, 2026, in the Dominican Republic by a specially vetted U.S. Marshals Fugitive Investigative Unit working with Dominican drug-enforcement officers, acting under a Dominican deportation order.
How long was the manhunt?
About six weeks — nearly 50 days elapsed between his escape on Sept. 10 and his capture on Oct. 22. He was flown back to the United States on Oct. 23 and turned over to the Marshals in Miami.
What crimes was Kemp originally convicted of?
Conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, felon in possession of a firearm, possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine, and conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute heroin, sentenced in the District of Maryland and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Will Kemp face new charges for the escape?
That has not been announced. The Marshals Service says the escape incident itself is under investigation and has released no further details, but federal inmates who escape typically face additional federal escape charges.
How did authorities find him in the Dominican Republic?
The Marshals’ Dominican Republic Foreign Field Office Fugitive Investigative Unit — made up of Dominican National Directorate for Drug Control officers vetted to work exclusively on U.S. fugitive cases — located him under a Dominican deportation order tied to his outstanding U.S. federal warrant.
When was Kemp supposed to be released?
His projected release date before the escape was May 28, 2036. Any new charges related to the escape could push that date back significantly.
