Swede Smuggler Sneaks in Pal to Serve His Sentence

A man convicted of smuggling in Sweden outwitted his jailers by sneaking in a friend to serve most of his yearlong sentence. The identity of the false convict was discovered only when he'd been released on probation after serving about two-thirds of his friend's sentence "sometime in 2008 or 2009," say prison officials. They've now issued an international arrest warrant for the real criminal, but didn't explain why it took a few years to do so.

The convict, who never served his term, was sentenced for a series of smuggling offenses in southwestern Sweden in 2008. Media reports said he had fled to Asia and had paid his friend for the "prison-sitting" service. It's not clear whether that friend—who used a fake driver's license to pull off the ruse—will face punishment. (More Sweden stories.)