John McAfee.Photo: Christoph Dernbach/picture alliance via Getty
John McAfee, the eccentric antivirus software pioneer, was found dead Wednesday in a Spanish prison, according toBBC,Associated PressandReuters.
His death occurred just hours after a National Court approved the 75-year-old cybersecurity tycoon’s extradition to the Unites States, where he was facing federal charges of tax evasion. McAfee had earned millions in income from promoting cryptocurrencies, consulting work, speaking engagements and selling the rights to his life story for a documentary, the AP reports.
In a statement, the Catalan justice department said his death appeared to be a suicide, according toReuters.
McAfee was arrested in October at a Barcelona airport and was being held in custody until the extradition matter was resolved, according to AP.
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If convicted, McAfee had faced a maximum of five years in prison on each count of tax evasion and a maximum sentence of one year in prison on each count of willful failure to file a tax return.
McAfee went on the run from police in 2012 after his neighbor in Belize, Gregory Faull, a retired contractor who came to the country from Florida, was found fatally shot. McAfee was later arrested in Guatemala where he was accused of entering that country illegally.
McAfee argued in court that he was formally requesting asylum in Guatemala because he was being persecuted in Belize over the fatal shooting of the contractor,the AP reported.
In 2019,Zac Efronsigned on to star in a biopic about McAfee, calledKing of the Jungle. The story centers around a journalist who goes to Belize to interview McAfee and gets caught up in the eccentric millionaire’s life, according toThe Hollywood Reporter.
source: people.com
