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Fugitive Mother Released From Prison

By ED WHITE

posted: 3 HOURS 26 MINUTES AGO

comments: 443

filed under: Crime News, National News

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PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (May 19) -- A California mother of three who spent decades evading the law after escaping from a Michigan prison was freed Tuesday after serving a little more than a year in prison following her recapture.

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Family members greeted Susan LeFevre, 54, when she was released from Huron Valley prison, south of Ann Arbor. LeFevre told reporters prison is a "very tragic, hard place," and her family's support helped her persevere.

"It was just the most heartwarming experience — especially, I suppose, because I felt like it was so tragic for me, for sometimes thinking that I was facing many years locked in a prison," she said.

LeFevre, who is married with three children, was living in the San Diego area under the name Marie Walsh when a tip led to her arrest in April 2008. Even her husband, Alan Walsh, didn't know about her criminal past.

"If he can stick through a wife who comes up with these surprises, anybody can stay with a marriage," LeFevre told reporters with Walsh at her side.

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LeFevre climbed a fence and escaped from a prison near Detroit in 1976 after serving about 14 months of a 10-year sentence for a drug conviction.

She expressed regret about the escape to a Wayne County judge last fall and said it was a "terrible thing to do." LeFevre said she was just 21 and frightened by other inmates.

She spoke Tuesday of letters she received in prison from supporters.

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"I just felt that with that many people praying for me, this was going to end up good, and it has," LeFevre said. "I'm back with my family and very anxious to resume my life and go back to being Marie." She said she would use that name again when her plane crosses the California state line.

The Michigan Parole Board voted in January to release LeFevre from her sentence for the drug conviction. The board noted that although LeFevre had been living under a different name, she had committed no crimes after her escape. A judge placed her on probation for the escape.

The board made her wait until Tuesday to be released because of misconduct in prison. During the past four months, however, her record has been clean.

"I'm just delighted this nightmare is over. It's been very traumatic. I didn't think I'd make it at times," said LeFevre, who thanked family and friends for supporting her. "I'm just a very lucky person."

Her husband, a waste executive in southern California, called it a "great day" and repeatedly tried to pull his wife away from the microphone stand. But LeFevre kept talking to reporters.

LeFevre will be on parole for the drug crime until May 2013. She can't drink alcohol, possess firearms or associate with felons.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

2009-05-19 11:06:07

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N11781ase

12:57 AMMay 20 2009

In what alternate dimension of reality does this even begin to serve as justice?

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StlDel23

12:41 AMMay 20 2009

This is unbelievable, in a way. There are people, who are actually innocent of crimes, still serving time. They never said she was innocent; only she was afraid of other inmates! Privelage at its best!

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n99pu9

12:00 AMMay 20 2009

what happens to illegal aliens that break into America ?

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Zew100

11:59 PMMay 20 2009

She went straight after 14 months in prison. Reform is the point of prison, so I think the judge was right, time served plus parole. So what if she worked under someone else's Social Security number? THAT MEANS THEY GET CREDIT FOR ALL HER EARNINGS, unless there's some way she can straighten that out.

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Dvdsn61

11:50 PMMay 20 2009

I found it a little curious that the writer gave no specifics into the charges,except to say they were drug charges. A ten year sentence seems a little harsh for a simple drug posession charge, or even small time drug trafficking. I would really like to know what the specific offense was, and were there some extenuating circumstances to warrant such a sentence.

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MichiganGuy005

11:45 PMMay 20 2009

She's paid her debt, and she married a well-off guy. Leave her alone.

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Irenesalazar2000

11:21 PMMay 20 2009

she deserved to be out, it's a case by case situation, she has repented and said she's sorry, she's lived like a model citizen and committed no new crimes, she deserves to have her sentence reduced.

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ChiefSaggyNutz

10:57 PMMay 20 2009

Put this cheese eating skank back behind bars where she belongs!!!!

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NefariousScot

10:44 PMMay 20 2009

Bbrockp 10:34 PMMay 20 2009 She still hasn't paid her debt to society. Unfair.****Well, apparently the courts disagree with you, and they had the power to make the decision. Guess your input was overlooked.

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Gmjc7

10:43 PMMay 20 2009

Stop prosicuting people for drug possision ! It's onoe of the Governments business what you do with your body.

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