Local New York Politician Who Fled Sentencing Is Found 23 Years Later

WAVERLY, Ohio (AP) — A former New York town supervisor who was wanted for over 20 years has been arrested in Ohio.

Former Mentz Supervisor William Jones is being held at the Butler County jail in Ohio and awaits extradition to New York’s Cayuga County, the Dayton Daily News reported.

Jones, 71, was convicted of the criminal sale of a firearm in 1997, and while out on a $20,000 bond he failed to show up for sentencing.

Jones was accused of selling eight handguns after his pistol permit was suspended following an eight-month prison sentence for official misconduct as Mentz town supervisor.

An officer in Waverly, Ohio, found Jones by chance Sunday when he stopped to help a limping man, who did not have identification and turned out to be Jones.

The Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office said Jones has been living in Ohio for an undetermined amount of time under an assumed identity.