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Mistakenly Released Prisoner Buys His Own Bus Ticket Back to Prison

Meet Ricky Lee Claycomb, age 37. He was serving a jail sentence in Colorado for robbery when Ohio authorities extradited him to Ohio to stand trial for a 1994 rape in which his DNA had turned up as a match. Mr. Claycomb went to trial in Ohio and was acquitted. The jury accepted his defense that he had had consensual sex with the accuser the day before the assault. Ohio jailers told him to leave. He told them he had to go back to finish serving his sentence in Colorado, and they told him to find his own way back.

So Mr. Claycomb called his mother in Colorado.

"He told them at the jail that he was supposed to be taken back to Colorado," said Mr. Claycomb's mother, Jill Claycomb. "He said they told him he was done in Canton and it was his problem to get back."

She sent him money for a bus ticket. After the two-day trip to Colorado, Mr. Claycomb visited her long enough to have oatmeal and peaches for breakfast and pizza for lunch, and then his brother drove him to the Fremont Correctional Facility in Canon City, Colo., late Thursday.

He even called ahead to let them know he was on his way back:

"He was nice enough to call ahead," said Katherine Sanguinetti, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Corrections. "I think he was afraid we would shoot him or something, but it wasn't his fault Ohio let him go."

And according to Ricky's mother:

"I told a detective what happened, that he was coming back to Colorado on his own," she said. "He just said, 'Bless Ricky's little heart.' "

Let's hope the parole board gets a copy of this article.

< For Whom the Pell Tolled: Higher Education for Prisoners | Bill Maher on Jeff Gannon >
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    Re: Mistakenly Released Prisoner Buys His Own Bus (none / 0) (#1)
    by Ray Radlein on Sun Feb 20, 2005 at 12:20:31 AM EST
    I would also hope that Colorado would reimburse his family for the cost of transportation (and send the bill to Ohio!), too.

    Insane, nothing but insane, but about right for the third world nation, what would have happen if he had not gone back?, the syatem would have made some note of that?...total madness, by the way how many years has he been in prison in his 37 yr,? 28?

    He only has two years left on his sentence.

    The state didn't waste any time listing him as an escapee however.

    Unbelievable. This guy shold have his sentence reduced just for being as honest as he is. How many people would have never said a word about Colorado to the Ohio authorities and upon being released, simply walked away?

    You know, this makes me think maybe he didn't do the crime he is in prison for? and understands the games that our non law system plays.

    Re: Michael Ditto's post, Surely they did not actually charge this guy with escape? How about some sanctions for the correctional officer that actually let him walk out the door? Failure to protect, dereliction of duty, etc, what ever they call it in that state. And I agree, the inmate, or his family, should be reimbursed and maybe a little time off of his sentence is appropriate. He clearly is not a violent threat to society. And this from me, a guy IN law enforcement...go figure.

    Well, he's back in the big house, but he can't take any college classes cause he's a bad dude.

    CA - He also must be not to smart. Rather than his mother, he could have called the police in CO. Also, I bet if he had asked a couple of other folks in Ohio they would have taken care of contacting CO.

    Re: Mistakenly Released Prisoner Buys His Own Bus (none / 0) (#10)
    by Darryl Pearce on Sun Feb 20, 2005 at 10:29:06 AM EST
    There are loads of people on this planet that aren't too smart. Many of them are simply broken in mind and spirit. They need advocacy--not punishment. But then... even when Dorothy arrived at Emerald City, the door bell was labelled out of order even when it worked, and they had to knock to get in even though the guard knew that they were there. Efficiency sacrificed for procedure.

    Re: Mistakenly Released Prisoner Buys His Own Bus (none / 0) (#11)
    by Johnny on Sun Feb 20, 2005 at 10:56:41 AM EST
    I think it shows a level of willingness to "reform"... Good for him. Jim-in some ways, he is a smarter man than many of us, after all, wasn't it you who made the crack about the gene pool as regards those who run from the police?

    This guy genuinely appears to be rehab'd. How many of us who have never done time would have gone back willingly. A commutation would seem appropriate, OR the awarding of some sort of equitable "good time" credit. - k

    Good for him (and sensible if he only had a couple years left on his sentence, since the risk of getting caught post-escape is much higher than the marginal cost of the couple years), but doesn't this story just make you want to scream: GO TO CYPRUS! DAMNIT, GO TO CYPRUS, IDIOT!! Just on general anti-authoritiarian principles.

    On the other hand, it reminds me of the Marine who was supposedly captured by the insurgents in Iraq, showed up in Lebanon, and subsequently charged with desertion. For some reason the Marines let him go on leave and visit his family. He promptly slipped over the border to Canada and from there back to Lebanon. Somehow I think the Marines just didn't want to deal with that poitical mess, and said "take leave and don't forget your passport. Oh and by the way, did you know we don't have an extradition treaty with Lebanon?"

    Jim and Darryl hit the nail on the head. He wasn't very smart. The average IQ of prisoners is about 80. I suspect the average IQ of the prison bureacracy is only slightly higher. What's the surprise?

    Eclaire, care to cite your source on prisoner IQ?

    Re: Mistakenly Released Prisoner Buys His Own Bus (none / 0) (#17)
    by Adept Havelock on Sun Feb 20, 2005 at 03:01:34 PM EST
    It figures. Some guy does the proper thing, and all the trolls here can do is harp on him for being "dumb". Gee, seemed like he was doing the morally correct thing to me. He could have run. He didn't. I guess if he had run, the trolls would be condemming him as "dumb" for that. Yes, he did something wrong that put him in prison. Yes, he's paying for that. Beyond that, so what? I thought "forgiveness" was a big bit with the "christian" right. So much for any christian acts from our trolls. Anything for a trolling point, eh? No troll cookies for anyone on this.

    Adept, Nowhere did I suggest that turning himself in was "dumb". The comment was made that he didn't know who to call - so he called his mama. I made two points. 1) prisoners tend to have low IQ's, and 2) prison guards & bureaucrats have low IQ's. Sure I could give you references. Would you read em? As far as your blather on xtian forgiveness, you are assuming too much. First, I'm not xtian. Second, I have no idea what the guy did, nor do I care. It isn't my place to forgive him or not forgive him. It's irrelevant. What IS relevant is my point...prisoners tend to have low IQ's.

    ...prisoners tend to have low IQ's...
    that "tend" portion, what percentage of the prison population does that entail. some of the smartest and charismatic people are in prison, there in prison for other shortcomings, dumb ain't one of them.

    Re: Mistakenly Released Prisoner Buys His Own Bus (none / 0) (#20)
    by Adept Havelock on Mon Feb 21, 2005 at 08:55:53 AM EST
    Eclaire- At no time in my post did I refer to you by name. However, if you want to consider yourself a troll, be my guest. 2'nd- I don't recall asking for references. Aim your blather at the proper target please. While you apparently wish to be considered one, no troll cookie for you.

    Adept, I was answering Michael's question as well - I meant to adress him, too. I think I answered your other points. HL, You don't seem to understand the idea of anecdotal evidence. The statement "Prisoners tend to have low IQ's" is true. If you think that statement encompasses every genius in prison, you simply don't comprehend the point. The point is that the average IQ of men in prison is quite low - in the neighborhood of 90. You may not like it. You may know of a few diabolical geniuses who are incarcerated. Irrelevant. The statement remains true.

    So, how about somebody comparing the IQ of the average inmate (80-90, according to Eclaire, based on who-knows-what) to the average IQ of the American public-at-large. I've been both places and don't see a great deal of difference. Of course, on the inside one is forced to be in close proximity to the less-IQ'd, where on the outside one can choose his/her intellectual peers............ Yet I choose here......

    Re: Mistakenly Released Prisoner Buys His Own Bus (none / 0) (#23)
    by roy on Mon Feb 21, 2005 at 11:43:44 AM EST
    So, how about somebody comparing the IQ of the average inmate (80-90, according to Eclaire, based on who-knows-what) to the average IQ of the American public-at-large.
    I'm just working from memory, but I think those tests are normalized for a given population. So the average IQ of the American public is 100.

    Bingo. About 15 - 20 points difference. While there are a number of highly intelligent men behind bars, there are a VAST number of men with low intelligence, and the average is in the 80-90 range. It's not news.

    Heh (none / 0) (#25)
    by wooot on Thu Aug 20, 2009 at 05:40:07 PM EST
    That's why I don't buy bus tickets.