Alleged fugitive claims to be man who died in 1983
WILMINGTON, N.C. – An accused fugitive who police say escaped while serving a 20-year
prison sentence for drug trafficking claims he’s a man who died in Virginia nearly three decades ago.
The man who North Carolina authorities say is Charles Sparks, 69, drove off from a Florida prison in a car he had been cleaning as part of an inmate work crew, the StarNews of Wilmington reported Sunday.
However, the man told the newspaper during a jailhouse interview that he is William Bolyn Garrett of Danville, Va. Police and Garrett’s family say the man died in 1983 at age 43.
Sparks is being held at the New Hanover County Jail and is charged with financial identity
fraud, false pretense and being a fugitive. He said he had been living on a boat somewhere in South Carolina before he was arrested last week at a Wilmington Social Security office. He had applied for benefits to pay medical bills after suffering a heart attack about five months ago.
A Social Security employee notified police after a supervisor confirmed that Bill Garrett was dead. Investigators identified Sparks through fingerprints in an FBI database.
Sparks had served about two years of his sentence when he escaped while working on a car wash detail, according to a Florida Department of Corrections news release. Sparks told the paper he was born and raised in the Virginia mountains and has been remodeling homes and businesses for about three decades. He said he’s lived in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.
More Stories
USF won’t install more physical protections following recent on-campus suicide
USF will not be implementing additional physical safety measures over a month after a student leapt from an upper floor inside the Interdisciplinary Sciences building, USF spokeswoman Althea Johnson said. The incident marked the third on-campus suicide since fall 2022. A week after a student fell from an upper floor of Beard Garage in 2022, […]
Meet USF’s new student body president and vice president
A new era of Student Government (SG) just arrived. In a quick five-minute ceremony, student body president-elect Suryakanth Prasad Gottipati and vice president-elect Sumit Subhash Jadhav were sworn in on Wednesday afternoon. Their term will start on May 6 and last for one year. Related: Take a look at USF’s student leaders’ swearing in ceremony […]
Photos: Take a look at USF’s student leaders’ swearing in ceremony
A new era of Student Government (SG) just arrived. In a quick five-minute ceremony, student body president-elect Suryakanth Prasad Gottipati and vice president-elect Sumit Subhash Jadhav were sworn in on Wednesday afternoon. Related: USF student body president and vice president-elect sworn in Their term will start on May 6 and last for one year. Gabrielle […]
President Joe Biden visits Tampa to talk abortion rights
Gearing up for the 2024 presidential election, President Joe Biden made a stop in Tampa to talk about reproductive freedom in Florida on Tuesday afternoon. The speech comes just two weeks before the state’s six-week abortion ban comes into effect on May 1. Biden called on Floridians to vote for an amendment deciding abortion access […]
‘Genocide Joe has got to go’: Pro-Palestine protestors gather during Biden’s visit to Tampa
While President Joe Biden took 15 minutes to talk on the protection of reproductive rights in Tampa on Tuesday, pro-Palestine protests chanted against the United States handling “on-going genocide” in Gaza, and its alliance to Israel in the conflict. Related: President Joe Biden visits Tampa to talk abortion rights “The lack of coverage in the media […]
USF students can ‘Swap Shop’ their way into free items this week
USF’s Swap Shop is just around the corner. Literally. Bulls can stop by the Swap Shop, located in Holly J, to pick up some free items – from furniture to clothing. Students, staff and faculty had the opportunity to donate items for the Swap Shop earlier this week on Monday and Tuesday. But ‘shopping’ won’t […]