’70s radical released from prison

CHOWCHILLA, Calif. – A former 1970s radical associated with the group that kidnapped newspaper heiress Patty Hearst finished her California prison sentence Tuesday, ending a legal drama that harkened back to a violent era of social unrest.

Sara Jane Olson, 62, was freed from the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla shortly after midnight and was allowed to serve her yearlong parole in Minnesota, the state she adopted during her 24 years as a fugitive.

Olson served seven years – half her sentence – after pleading guilty to helping place pipe bombs under Los Angeles Police Department patrol cars and participating in the deadly 1975 robbery of a bank in a Sacramento suburb.

The crimes took place while she was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army, a relatively short-lived but violent group that sought to overthrow the government.

Olson was released by mistake a year ago after California corrections officials miscalculated her parole date; she was re-arrested after spending five days with her family. Authorities now say she has served the proper seven-year sentence.

“She was definitely relieved that it all went smoothly,” said David Nickerson, one of Olson’s attorneys.