LAW: A MICHIGAN BUSINESSMAN IS EXTRADITED TO VIRGINIA OVER A $10 DRUG DEAL.

Martinsville,Va.-A man who walked away from a Virginia prison farm 25 years
ago and lived an "exemplary" life as a Michigan businessman returned to his
hometown Wednesday to finish serving time for a $10 drug deal.

Alfred Odell Martion 111 was flown from Detroit, booked in Martinsville and
put into a cell for selling marijuana in 1973. He also faced a judge on
escape and larceny charges filed after he fled two days into his sentence.

"Michigan may know him as the responsible businessman with a good record,
but Martinsville knows him as a drug dealer," prosecutor Joan Ziglar said.

Attorneys for Martin, 49, said he will plead not guilty to charges that he
escaped and also never paid off a television and stereo system. He faces up
to 25 years in prison if convicted.

Martin, one of 15 children, was working in a department store and doing
free-lance photography when he was first arrested. He was sentenced to 10
years in prison with nine years suspended.

Ziglar said she would not ask the judge to have him serve all 10 years.
Counting time off for good behavior, he would have served only about three
months had he not fled in 1973, she said.

In 1976, then-Michigan Gov. William Milliken refused to extradite Martin to
Virginia, in effect granting him legal asylum. In Michigan, he married,
raised three children and worked for a mortgage company.

His extradition became possible in the late 1980s as a result of U.S.
Supreme Court rulings that meant governors only have ministerial functions
when they receive an extradition request.

That meant that Martin was in trouble last month when police stopped him for
expired plates. After a record check showed Martin was a fugitive, Virginia
officials sought his extradition.

Michigan Gov. John Engler signed Marting's extradition warrant. On Monday,
Circuit Judge William Cahalan in Detroit ruled he had no choice but to honor
Virginia's request.

The Michigan Court of Appeals refused to block the extradition Tuesday, and
Sheriff Steve Draper dispatched two deputies to bring Martin back.

"It's not my choice to decide whether this is right or wrong," Draper said.
"In Michigan he may have been law-abiding, but he's got to pay his debt to
society here."

Checked-by: Don Beck