Convicted Murderer Freed by Accident in Chicago

Steven Robbins just 8 years into 60-year sentence for murder, weapons
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 1, 2013 10:15 AM CST
Convicted Murder Freed by Accident in Chicago
This photo provided by the Cook County Sheriff's Office shows Steven L. Robbins, a convicted murderer police in Indiana and Illinois are searching for.   ((AP Photo/Cook County Sheriff's Office))

Police are hunting for a convicted murderer after he was mistakenly released from custody in Chicago, where he was sent to face a drug charge while serving a 60-year prison sentence in Indiana. Indiana Department of Corrections officials said Steven L. Robbins, 44, was sent to Cook County Circuit Court on Tuesday to face a drug charge. The charge was dropped, "but for reasons yet unknown, the offender was released by Illinois authorities without being held for return," the department said in a news release.

The Cook County Sheriff's Office said it was investigating how Robbins was released. The Gary, Ind., native was serving the decades-long sentence for murder and weapons convictions out of Marion County in Indiana. He started serving the sentence in October 2004 and his earliest projected release date was more than 16 years from now on June 29, 2029. Both Illinois and Indiana have issued arrest warrants for Robbins. Officials in both states are asking for the public's help to apprehend him. (More Steven Robbins stories.)

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