Ian Jackson MacDonald, accused drug smuggler, nabbed after 30 years on America's Most Wanted list
Nina MandellThursday, January 13th 2011, 8:44 PM
Landovan Jackson MacDonald, now 71, has been arrested after 30 years on the run.
After spending three decades on America's Most Wanted list, Ian Jackson MacDonald had three words for US Marshals when they caught him this week: "You got me."
Macdonald, also known as "Big Mac" was arrested in 1980 and accused of masterminding a drug smuggling ring, the Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.
But before he could stand trial, the alleged criminal mastermind faked a heart attack and escaped.
Macdonald eventually moved to Pennsylvania, where he lived quietly under the assumed name of Jack Hunter, according to the newspaper.
That is, until, a cold case unit in Miami was assigned to his case late last year.
"You're right, you got me," MacDonald reportedly replied when he was busted by the feds this week. "I have been looking over my shoulder all these years. I wondered when this day would come."
What marshals found, according to the newspaper, was a man living in stark contrast to the high-flying big spender they captured in the 1980s.
The owner of an appliance store in Pennsylvania, MacDonald was also receiving about $1900 a month to work as a horse caretaker, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
Now he'll face the original charges against him – of being a co-conspirator to import up to 500 pounds of marijuana from Florida to Canada – in addition to charges relating to the escape.
"These federal warrants, they never go away," U.S. Marshals senior inspector Barry Golden told the paper. "These guys do run, but we always catch up with them one day down the road."
MacDonald wasn't the only long-lost criminal busted this week.
In Los Angeles, a woman who escaped from prison 32 years ago where she was serving a sentence for credit card fraud, was finally nabbed.
Nancy Garces was caught taking a trip from New Mexico, where she moved decades ago after scaling a fence in the prison yard, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"This is a message to all at-large felons that California law enforcement agents never give up when searching for fugitives," Michael Ruff, a special agent with the California Department of Corrections, told the newspaper.
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