KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) -- A middle-aged convicted murderer who ran off with a 14-year-old Michigan girl for more than three weeks was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in federal prison.
Terry Drake, 56, of Middlebury, Ind., offered a brief apology to the girl's parents before U.S. District Judge Richard A. Enslen imposed the sentenced. His statement did not include an apology to the girl.
A plea agreement left Enslen in the unusual position of hearing lawyers for both sides ask for a sentence longer than federal sentencing guidelines recommend. The judge, citing Drake's actions in this case and his previous criminal history, agreed to the request.
Drake pleaded guilty June 12 to five federal sex and weapons charges. In exchange for the pleas and longer sentence recommendation, state charges in Michigan and California were dropped.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of transporting a minor across state lines with the intent to engage in sexual activity and one count of using interstate commerce -- specifically the Internet -- to induce or coerce a minor to engage in sexual activity. He also pleaded guilty to possessing firearms as a convicted felon and transporting stolen firearms across state lines.
Drake previously served about half of a 30-year prison sentence after being convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering a woman from the Evansville, Ind., area in 1977.
Authorities said Drake had a relationship with Lindsey Ryan, who lives near Jones in eastern Cass County, and fled with her to California on March 1. The California Highway Patrol apprehended the pair on March 24 near the Nevada border.
