CARBON COUNTY, Utah – After being on the run for more than 34 years, a man wanted by the Mississippi Department of Corrections was arrested in the Wellington City area of Carbon County, Utah Thursday.
According to a press release from the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office, police received information from the FBI indicating that 61-year-old Sam Gene Harris was believed to be in the Wellington City area. The FBI bulletin stated the man has been a fugitive from Mississippi since November of 1980.
Harris has lived in the Wellington City area for several years and had obtained a Utah driver’s license under the name of Wayne Edward Stevens. He had contact with law enforcement under that alias. The press release states Harris, “has built an extensive criminal history throughout the country, and uses a number of aliases.” Most of the crimes are theft related.
Det. Chris Pugliese, Price City Police Department, developed more current information and shared the details with Carbon County Sheriff’s Office investigators and Wellington PD. Carbon County deputies then made contact with Harris and arrested him Thursday. It was not immediately clear if and when the man would be extradited.
