Los Angeles, California - An inmate who walked away from Owens Valley Conservation Camp in 2011 was taken into California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) custody after being arrested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff during a sting operation.

Yahua Yang, 40, walked away from Owens Valley Conservation Camp in Bishop on March 17, 2011 and had since been at-large. Yang was arrested in Rosemead, California under the alias of Gvosheng Wu Zhong when he and three Mexican nationals were attempting to purchase 15 kilos of cocaine on January 27, 2015. Yang was booked into LA County Jail and held on a million dollars bail. Yang was subsequently released on bail prior to his true identity being discovered and given a court date for his new charges.

Yang was one-year and four months into a seven-year sentence from Los Angeles County for possession of a controlled substance for sale when he walked away.

CDCR special agents and local law enforcement arrested Yang immediately following his arraignment on his new charges. CDCR Special Services Unit agents transported Yang to California Institution for Men in Chino where he will be housed in the prison's administrative segregation unit. In addition to serving out his initial sentence, Yang could face new felony charges for escape.

Of all offenders who have escaped from an adult institution, camp or community-based program since 1977, 98.7 percent have been apprehended.