Women Who Escaped From Prison

Samantha Lopez

Samantha Lopez was serving a 50-year prison sentence for aiding and abetting a Georgia bank robbery. She was doing her time at a federal correctional institution in Dublin, California, which is where she would fall in love with Ronald McIntosh. The former Army helicopter pilot was in prison for wire fraud and was due to be released the following year. They met each other while working in the business office of the federal prison.In 1986, McIntosh escaped during an unsupervised transfer to another California facility. He returned to the prison eight days later with a hijacked helicopter and escaped with Samantha Lopez. They successfully remained on the run for only ten days, though. They were caught buying wedding rings after McIntosh wrote a check from a bank account that the police were monitoring.After being caught, the two would be married at the courthouse by a former prison chaplain. Then the two lovers were convicted on charges stemming from their escape. McIntosh was found guilty of air piracy and helping Lopez escape and was given a 25-year sentence. Samantha was found guilty of escaping, and five years was added to her sentence