Fugitive caught at Phila. library gets 75-year term

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. - A Georgia fugitive who was captured at the Philadelphia Free Library's main branch in December while checking his MySpace.com account has been sentenced to 75 years in prison.

Darrin Bates, 35, was convicted of beating an 88-year-old woman and was linked to several other crimes after escaping from the Hancock County Jail in June. "This is tantamount to a life sentence, and that is my plan," Baldwin County Superior Court Judge Hugh V. Wingfield said Wednesday in sentencing Bates for aggravated battery, entering an auto, theft, and two charges of burglary.

The victim, Estelle Ivey, said Bates had shown up at her home one morning and said he was selling Christian literature. He forced his way inside and began hitting her, she said. One of her eyes was permanently damaged, said her son, Glenn.

In August, Estelle Ivey's stolen car turned up in Philadelphia. Authorities found Bates' fingerprints on it, and slowly began to close in. - AP