Posted on 05/20/2006 5:20:08 AM PDT by decimon
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - After 38 years, Michael Robert Smith figured no one was looking for him anymore. He escaped from prison on June 7, 1968, while serving time for a robbery conviction, then headed to Nevada, then New Jersey and into a marriage that didn't work out. Finally, five years ago, Smith moved to a tiny trailer in a heavily wooded area of Creek County, Okla. It turned out the California Department of Corrections was still on his trail.
Authorities found him Thursday, his clothes paint-splattered from one of the few jobs he could hold without a driver's license or other identification.
"He looked at the ground a little bit, then he looked up and said, `Yeah, that's me,'" Creek County Sheriff's Detective Les Ruhman said Friday. "He didn't dream people would be looking for him for so long."
The case had long grown cold until December 2003, when Judy Foster, a special agent at the California corrections department who found another escaped convict in 2004, reopened the investigation.
Smith's family and friends all denied knowing where he had gone, but Foster eventually discovered that Smith was using the his mother's maiden name - Gallion - and living outside Sapulpa, 13 miles southwest of Tulsa.
"The truth is, we never stop looking for these people," said department spokeswoman Terry Thornton. She refused to explain how Foster found the men, saying she didn't want to tip off future escaped convicts.
A department report says 21 inmates escaped from prisons and camps last year, and 20 from community programs. Of those, 31 had been recaptured, the report said.
Smith's case was unusual because he escaped from a prison, while most escaped convicts walk away from a work camp or community program, said department spokeswoman Elaine Jennings.
Smith, now 63, is being held without bond and likely will be shipped back to California within 10 days, after an extradition hearing.
He had served three years of a five years-to-life sentence at the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, 67 miles southeast of San Jose.
"It's just amazing he made it all these years and never had a run-in with the law," Ruhman said.
Isn't the statute of limitations, 7 years, for most everything except murder?
Living in a trailer park with the constant threat of tornados is punishment enough.
"She refused to explain how Foster found the men, saying she didn't want to tip off future escaped convicts."
I think that should call for a hearing and investigation and disclosure of what they're doing at the California corrections department.
P.S. And have you ever been to Soledad? No wonder he left.
I reluctantly agree. He obviously isn't a threat to the community and he seems to have shown that. There are plenty of people running free right now who need to occupy a jail cell much more than this guy.
Probation wouldn't be letting him off scot-free.
Yeah, where's the ACLU supporting the rights of jail breakers? Put him on the Hillary! campaign staff.
The statute only holds if you haven't already been convicted of a crime.
The huge un-answered question in the aritcle is what he was in prison for. His original sentence was 5 years to life. They don't throw out "life" sentences for jaywalking. Giving him probation is the moral equivalent of giving amnesty to illegal aliens.
Not a lawyer, but... He was caught and convicted within the statute time period. I escaping, he committed a second crime for which, I think, there is no statute of limitations.
Nonetheless, with nothing to go by but this news article, he seems no threat to repeat his crimes so I would would put him on probation.
The Statute of Limitations stops when you've been indicted, even in absentia or "john doe." IIRC that is.
No. I've not always been a saint but I am prison averse.
Agreed. No suggestion, in the news article, of violence against persons to warrant that "...to life" part.
I think it was for robbery.
Thanks for the clarity.
Maybe they could grant him "not amnesty." Restore full citizenship, grant him social security benefits, offer him some incentives to blend in with society, etc. Or is that just for a different type of lawbreaker.
What a numb nut. This guy should have worked on a Spanish accent and claimed he was an illegal. He could have moved to CA and fit right in. Just one of millions. My name ees Jose Jimenez!
Meanwhile, 12~20M alien law-breakers roam the country freely and the President wants to grant them Amnesty that's not Amnesty.
Read through all the replies. I'm still trying to form a reasonable opinion about what to do with this guy. Yes, he escaped prison. Yes, he was in prison for armed robbery, but went 38 years without further breaking the law.
The court system is a punitive system, but I cannot see how sticking him back in prison is going to do him or society(taxpayers) any good.
The article mentions robbery but not armed robbery. But considering his sentence, that is a good assumption.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.