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Martinsville, VA -- Nearly 25 years after he fled a Virginia jail work crew, Alfred Odell Martin III pleaded guilty Wednesday to escaping from his one-year term for selling $10 worth of marijuana. Martin, 49, who built a respectable life in Michigan, faces up to five years in prison at his February sentencing, but his family is hoping for probation. "There is a huge sense of relief that this cloud that has been over him now for 24 years is going to be resolved," defense attorney Ben Gardner said. The case prosecutor said she would not push for jail time for Martin, who returned to Virginia in December and is currently serving out his one-year drug term. Martin had served less than two days of his sentence when he left a Martinsville jail work crew in February 1974. He married and settled in the Detroit suburb of Livonia where he raised three children and worked for a mortgage company. Virginia first sought his extradition in 1974, but then-Gov. William Milliken granted Martin legal asylum. The state sought him again in November, and this time a Michigan judge ordered him returned. Copyright 1999 Associated Press. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, news clippings are made available without profit for research and educational purposes. |
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