Mom Gets Probation for '76 Escape, Will Fight Prior Michigan Drug Conviction
Arrested earlier this year after more than 30 years on the lam, a California woman today was sentenced to probation for escaping a Michigan prison in 1976, a little over one year into a 10- to 20-year term for selling heroin.
However, Susan LeFevre, 53, must still serve out the remainder of her original prison term. She has hired lawyers to fight her conviction in that case, reports the Saginaw News.
LeFevre must also repay the cost to the state of finding her in an upscale San Diego community, where she was living under an assumed name as a married woman with three children, and returning her to Michigan.
If her original Saginaw County Circuit Court conviction stands, she will not be eligible for parole until late 2013, at the earliest.
LeFevre says she was a recreational user, but never sold heroin, reports the Associated Press. She says she was arrested when a friend sold the drug.
“It’s a terrible thing to do. It’s very hard to be a fugitive for so long,” she told the judge.
LeFevre, who apparently steered clear of crime during the decades after she escaped, was arrested by authorities after a telephone tip, notes an earlier Detroit Free Press article.
