Why a 60-Year-Old Woman Who Escaped Prison Nearly Four Decades Ago — and Who Cops Just Busted as a Fugitive — Is Free Once Again

Story by the Associated Press; curated by Dave Urbanski

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Charges were dropped against a 60-year-old San Diego woman who escaped from a Michigan prison in 1977 after authorities learned she had surrendered decades ago and been sentenced to time served.

Judy Lynn Hayman back in the 1970s (Image source: MIchigan Dept. of Corrections)

Judge Michael Smyth ordered Judy Lynn Hayman (now legally named Jamie Lewis) be released from custody immediately, UT San Diego reported Friday.

Hayman escaped from a Ypsilanti prison after serving eight months of an 18-to-24-month sentence for trying to steal clothes from a Detroit store — her charge was attempted larceny, a misdemeanor, KGTV-TV in San Diego reported. Other outlets indicate she served 10 months.

Hayman was arrested Feb. 4 after Michigan authorities discovered she was living in San Diego.

UT San Diego noted that she was ordered released from the Las Colinas jail in Santee, about a half hour east of San Diego, after her attorney presented documents revealing she had surrendered in 1982. It was then that a judge sentenced her to time already served.

Hayman legally changed her name to Jamie Lewis in 1983 and had been living in San Diego for several years.