John McAfee Dead At 75: Hanged Himself Inside Spain Cell After Extradition Ruling

John McAfee, an American software pioneer and founder of antivirus software company McAfee, has died in his prison cell in Barcelona, Spain, on Wednesday. He was 75.

McAfee's body was found hours after the court in Spain approved his extradition to the United States where he was set to face tax evasion charges. Officers and medical professionals at the Brians 2 prison in Catalunya attempted to resuscitate him but were unsuccessful, CNN reported, citing a statement from the Catalan Justice Department.

Officials also indicated that McAfee’s death could have been the result of suicide. Javier Villalba, McAfee’s lawyer, later told Reuters that the antivirus software founder died by hanging himself.

“This is the result of a cruel system that had no reason to keep this man in jail for so long,” Villalba said.

During a court hearing last month, McAfee argued that he would spend the rest of his life in jail if he is convicted on tax evasion charges in the U.S. The criminal charges could carry a sentence of up to 30 years in prison.

"I am hoping that the Spanish court will see the injustice of this," he told the court. "The United States wants to use me as an example."

McAfee was arrested at the international airport in Spain in October for failing to file his taxes for four years and refusing to pay income taxes for eight years. In a tweet posted after being taken into custody, McAfee said: “Know that if I hang myself, a la Epstein, it will be no fault of mine.”

In McAfee’s tax evasion indictment, it was shown that he earned millions of dollars between 2014 and 2018 from promoting cryptocurrencies, consulting work, speaking engagements and selling the rights to his life story for a documentary, according to CNBC.

In March, McAfee was also indicted on fraud and money laundering charges for allegedly being involved in a “pump-and-dump” scheme with another man named Jimmy Watson. The U.S. Justice Department said he and his business partner earned more than $13 million in the scheme.

In 2012, he briefly fleed his Belize home after he was wanted for questioning in connection with the death of his neighbor, Gregory Viant Faull, who was shot to death. Police later clarified that he was not being persecuted.

McAfee established McAfee Associates in 1987, the global antivirus company. In 1994, he stepped down as CEO and sold all his shares in the company.