John McAfee Found Dead In Prison Cell After US Extradition Approved

Update (1530ET): Just after Spain’s National Court approved a request for his extradition back to the US, where he faced the prospect of dying in a jail cell, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported Wednesday evening that John McAfee committed suicide in his cell, dying at the age of 75.

He was being held in a prison in Barcelona. So far, initial evidence of his death, which occurred Wednesday afternoon, local time, points to suicide.

He was initially arrested by Spanish authorities on Oct. 3, 2020 at the El Prat airport, just as he was about to take a plane to Turkey. He was arrested at the behest of the US, where he is wanted for evading millions of dollars in taxes. Spanish judge José de la Mata reportedly ordered his arrest.

In the last tweet sent from an account tied to McAfee, the cybersecurity software pioneer warned that “all power corrupts.”

In a democracy, power is given not taken.

But it is still power.

Love, compassion, caring have no use for it. But it is fuel for greed, hostility, jealousy…

All power corrupts.

Take care which powers you allow a democracy to wield.

— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) June 18, 2021

One of McAfee’s tweets from 2019 featured a cryptic warning about the eccentric founder, he made a fortune off his eponymous security software then squandered it, potentially being “suicided” by the US government.

Getting subtle messages from U.S. officials saying, in effect: “We’re coming for you McAfee! We’re going to kill yourself”. I got a tattoo today just in case. If I suicide myself, I didn’t. I was whackd. Check my right arm.$WHACKD available only on https://t.co/HdSEYi9krq🙂 pic.twitter.com/rJ0Vi2Hpjj

— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) November 30, 2019

We can’t help but wonder whether ‘conspiracy theories’ about the circumstances of his death will emerge in the coming weeks like they did after the in-prison suicide of another notable American.

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Antivirus software pioneer John McAfee may die in a US prison, after Spain’s National Court approved an extradition request by the United States to face tax-related criminal charges which carry a sentence of up to 30 years if convicted.

The 76-year-old McAfee has been charged by Tennessee prosecutors with evading taxes after failing to report consulting income he received while promoting cryptocurrencies, along with income from speaking engagements and the rights to his life story as a documentary, according to MarketWatch.

Last week, McAfee tweeted “I have nothing. Yet, I regret nothing.”

The US believes I have hidden crypto. I wish I did but it has dissolved through the many hands of Team McAfee (your belief is not required), and my remaining assets are all seized. My friends evaporated through fear of association.

I have nothing.

Yet, I regret nothing.

— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) June 16, 2021

The charges apply to income received between 2014 and 2018. He was arrested last October at Barcelona’s international airport, after which a judge ruled that he should be held in jail while awaiting the results of his extradition hearing.

Earlier this month, McAfee argued in a videolink hearing that charges against him are politically motivated, and that he would die in prison if he was returned to the US.

As CoinTelegraph notes:

McAfee’s life behind bars appears to be one of contemplation, as he regularly tweets messages with tones that switch between sorrow, acceptance for his circumstances, mixed in with sparks of aggression towards the U.S. governing bodies.

In the June 9 tweet, he notes that “after uncountable lawsuits and the reach of the FED’s I now have nothing. But inside these prison bars I have never felt more free. The things you believe you own, in reality own you.”

I have a million followers but I’d be surprised if even 1% bother to read my tweets.

Ramblings of an old man lost in a near infinite Twitter verse – like tears in rain.

As you may guess I’m having a down day.

— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) June 8, 2021

It is a stark contrast to McAfee’s earlier years in which his net worth grew to $100 million from his successful anti-virus software firm. McAfee used to own a mansion worth more than $5 million in Colorado Springs, and even lived on a luxury yacht out in Dominican Republic waters, which he dubbed a “freedom boat.”

According to the June 2020 indictment from the Justice Department’s Tax Division and Tennessee prosecutors, McAfee faces a minimum of five years on each count of tax evasion and a one-year minimum on each count of willful failure to file a tax return. –CoinTelegraph

There is much sorrow in prison, disguised as hostility.

The sorrow is plainly visible even in the most angry faces.

I’m old and content with food and a bed but for the young prison is a horror – a reflection of the minds of those who conceived them.

— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) June 10, 2021