Columbus man caught 34 years after prison escape

Willie Lee Austin of Columbus was a trusty on a Christmas pass from the Central Correctional Institution when he failed to return to the facility in Macon, Ga.

After nearly 34 years on the lam, Austin's holiday ended Wednesday with his arrest in Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., by the U.S. Marshals Service Florida Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The 60-year-old Austin is held without bond in the Broward County Jail on an escape charge.

"He will remain in Florida until we extradite him back to Georgia," said Gwendolyn Hogan, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Corrections.

In a release from the U.S. Marshals Service, supervisory inspector Tony Schilling said Austin was serving a 15-year-sentence for armed robbery in Columbus. He was sentenced in 1977 after eluding authorities for three years in the March 1974 armed robbery of $400 from the Mann Finance Co. on First Avenue.

Hogan said Austin's original sentence date was April 8, 1977, and his original maximum release date was Feb. 24, 1992. More than four years after he arrived at Central, Austin, 26, was released at 6 p.m. on Christmas Day in 1981 for 60 hours of freedom.

He was placed on escape status when he didn't return on Dec. 27 from the Christmas pass, Hogan said. He was the only one of 513 state prison inmates furloughed for the Christmas weekend who didn't return to the facility.

Georgia Department of Corrections investigators who were assigned to the U.S. Marshals Service Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force recently uncovered a possible alias used for Austin. Investigators found an address in Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., and linked the alias to Austin.

The task force acted upon the information and took Austin into custody without incident.

Inmates no longer get a chance for freedom with Christmas passes.

"We do not allow Christmas passes," Hogan said.

Since it was created in 2003, the regional fugitive task force has been involved in the apprehension of more than 20,000 violent fugitives in Georgia. More than 1,100 of the fugitives were wanted for homicide.

The task force has offices in Atlanta, Macon and Savannah that cover the entire state. Fugitives sought by the task force are those wanted for violent crimes, gang members, sex offenders and other felonies.

This story was originally published August 7, 2015 at 9:55 PM with the headline "Columbus man caught 34 years after prison escape ."