Recaptured Inmates, Including One Accused In Letterman Plot, Head Back To Prison

Thursday, June 14th 2007, 1:16 pm

By: News On 6

POLSON, Mont. (AP) _ Two recaptured fugitives, one once accused of plotting to kidnap David Letterman's son, appeared in court Thursday on escape warrants and were sent back to prison.

Kelly A. Frank and William J. Willcutt were on the lam for six days before they were both caught Wednesday, several hours and a mountain range apart.

Frank, 45, and Willcutt, 22, appeared in Lake County Justice Court on arrest warrants from Powell County, which includes Montana State Prison. Prison spokeswoman Dana Eldredge said earlier that each faces up to an additional 10 years for felony escape.

The two had fled from a prison ranch on June 8.

Frank, who had once worked on Letterman's ranch near Choteau, was arrested in 2005 on suspicion that he plotted the kidnap of the comedian's young son and the boy's nanny for ransom. A charge of solicitation to kidnap was dropped in return for guilty pleas to other charges, including felony theft and misdemeanor obstruction.

Before the escape, Frank would have been eligible for parole in three months. Willcutt, convicted of burglary, was denied parole earlier this year.