Plot hole: After all those years the statute of limitation would have run out, so he couldn't go to prison for the crime that he committed in his college student years, so couldn't be blackmailed with that threat.
Suggested correction: He had an arrest warrant against him and he was a fugitive. He was being sought under 18 USC 1073 (Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution). And under 18 USC 3290 "No statute of limitations shall extend to any person fleeing from justice."