44-Year Fugitive Faces Prison at 64

Eddie Brown doted on his family, worked hard and lived a quiet existence for 44 years before his past finally caught up with him. Brown was in a minor traffic accident last October. Police checked his license and found he had escaped from a Florida chain gang in 1952. So, Brown, 64, who is diabetic, has high blood pressure and heart problems, could be extradited to serve out the 4 1/2 years remaining on his sentence for a holdup he committed when he was 19. “My hope is I don’t have to go back,” Brown said, sitting with several of his 27 grandchildren on the stoop of his Brooklyn row house. His lawyer is negotiating with Florida authorities in hopes Brown can avoid jail time. Brown fled because he feared a prison guard was going to kill him, he said. He has spent the last five years as a security guard at a grocery store.