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Sherman Fugitive, 71, Makes His Case To Stay Out Of Prison

SHERMAN, Conn. — Robert E. Stackowitz, the 71-year-old fugitive found living in Sherman nearly 50 years after escaping from a Georgia prison, acknowledges his mistakes but says he is too old and too sick to go back, he told the Hartford Courant in an interview. 

Authorities found Robert E. Stackowitz, 70, in Sherman decades after he escaped from a Georgia prison after he applied for Social Security benefits.

Authorities found Robert E. Stackowitz, 70, in Sherman decades after he escaped from a Georgia prison after he applied for Social Security benefits.

Photo Credit: Georgia Department of Corrections

Stackowitz was sentenced to 17 years after driving the getaway car in a house burglary in March 1966, but he escaped in August 1968. 

His friends posted his bond, and Stackowitz has been released from a Bridgeport jail, the Courant said. 

He granted an interview with the Courant, along with his lawyer, Norm Pattis, to talk about his life in Sherman, to ask for mercy and to acknowledge his wrongdoings.

After his escape, Stackowitz said he returned to Connecticut and got a new Social Security under the name Bob Gordon, the Courant said. He then held various jobs, sometimes under his real name, working at car dealerships in New Milford and Danbury, at a gas station in New Milford and as a teacher at Henry Abbott Technical High School in Danbury, the Courant said.

Pattis is working to persuade Georgia not to prosecute Stackowitz, who has bladder cancer and congestive heart failure, among other ailments, the Courant said. 

The Carroll County District Attorney in Georgia said he does not intend to bring an escape charge against Stackowitz but said the elderly man still owes 15 years on the robbery conviction, the Courant said.

Pattis and Stackowitz both said he has been rehabilitated, the story said.

Robert Stackowitz also appeared Monday on "CBS This Morning." Click here to watch the interview.

Click here to read the interview at the Hartford Courant website.

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