Whether or not they finish last, one thing is certain: nice guys finish their sentences. At least Ricky Lee Claycomb does.

Claycomb had been transferred from a Stark County, Colorado, prison, where he was serving time for robbery, to Canton, Ohio, where he was up on rape charges. Having been acquitted in Canton, he was erroneously set free by lawmen who didn't see the orders to transport him back. Claycomb tried to convince guards to return him to Colorado, but they insisted he was free to go. So Claycomb called his mommy, who wired him money for a bus ticket to Colorado. After the two-day bus ride, Claycomb visited his mom, then had his brother drive him to jail. "He was nice enough to call ahead," a Colorado Department of Corrections spokeswoman reported.

According to Claycomb's mother, Stark County authorities were kept up-to-date on her son's travels. "I told a detective what happened; that he was coming back to Colorado on his own," Jill Claycomb told Associated Press. "He just said, ‘Bless Ricky's little heart.'"

» Scott Saxon