Ind. murder convict mistakenly released in Chicago

This photo provided by the Cook County Sheriff's Office shows Steven L. Robbins, a convicted murderer police in Indiana and Illinois are searching for after he was mistakenly released from custody in Chicago. / AP Photo/Cook County Sheriff's Office

CHICAGO Police were hunting for a convicted murderer on Thursday after he was mistakenly released from custody in Chicago, where he was sent to face a drug charge while serving a 60-year prison sentence in Indiana.

Indiana Department of Corrections officials said Steven L. Robbins, 44, was sent to Cook County Circuit Court on Tuesday to face a drug charge. The charge was dropped, "but for reasons yet unknown, the offender was released by Illinois authorities without being held for return," the department said in a news release.

The Cook County Sheriff's Office said it was investigating how Robbins was released. The Gary, Ind., native was serving the decades-long sentence for murder and weapons convictions out of Marion County in Indiana. He started serving the sentence in October 2004 and his earliest projected release date was more than 16 years from now on June 29, 2029.

Both Illinois and Indiana have issued arrest warrants for Robbins. Officials in both states are asking for the public's help to apprehend him.

Information about Robbins' murder case wasn't immediately available Thursday evening.

[vagrant45]

Man Im glad I dont live in that city. Just released a murder mistakenly back on to the streets. The very streets that are teaming with murders and thugs and drug dealers, that the city cannot seem to get control of.

[bobinbpt]

Boy, Chicago must be some hell of a place. Highest murder rate in the country and the prison guards are so inept that they release prisoners in their custody rather than returning them to the prison they came from? Give me a break !!!!

[Pullafastone]

The state has closed prisons and given thousand of early releases to people in custody. This is why the crime is on the rise and murder is up in Chicago as they push people back on the streets before they should be out. This is an under staffing and work over load problem as the state of Illinois is doing,roll em out, cut em loose. Budget cuts and make the employee pay,work em like a dog and this what happens, been there and did it.