PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- A California mother of three who spent decades evading the law after escaping from a Michigan prison was freed Tuesday after serving a little more than a year in prison following her recapture.

Family members greeted Susan LeFevre, 54, when she was released from Huron Valley prison, south of Ann Arbor. LeFevre told reporters prison is a "very tragic, hard place," and her family's support helped her persevere.

"It was just the most heartwarming experience -- especially, I suppose, because I felt like it was so tragic for me, for sometimes thinking that I was facing many years locked in a prison," she said.

LeFevre, who is married with three children, was living in the San Diego area under the name Marie Walsh when a tip led to her arrest in April 2008. Even her husband, Alan Walsh, didn't know about her criminal past.

"If he can stick through a wife who comes up with these surprises, anybody can stay with a marriage," LeFevre told reporters with Walsh at her side.

LeFevre climbed a fence and escaped from a prison near Detroit in 1976 after serving about 14 months of a 10-year sentence for a drug conviction.

She expressed regret about the escape to a Wayne County judge last fall and said it was a "terrible thing to do." LeFevre said she was just 21 and frightened by other inmates.

She spoke Tuesday of letters she received in prison from supporters.

"I just felt that with that many people praying for me, this was going to end up good, and it has," LeFevre said. "I'm back with my family and very anxious to resume my life and go back to being Marie." She said she would use that name again when her plane crosses the California state line.

One of the terms of her parole is to not use the name Marie Walsh, despite the fact that her middle name is Marie and her husband's last name is Walsh.

The Michigan Parole Board voted in January to release LeFevre from her sentence for the drug conviction. The board noted that although LeFevre had been living under a different name, she had committed no crimes after her escape. A judge placed her on probation for the escape.

The board made her wait until Tuesday to be released because of misconduct in prison. During the past four months, however, her record has been clean.

"I'm just delighted this nightmare is over. It's been very traumatic. I didn't think I'd make it at times," said LeFevre, who thanked family and friends for supporting her. "I'm just a very lucky person."

Her husband, a waste executive in southern California, called it a "great day" and repeatedly tried to pull his wife away from the microphone stand. But LeFevre kept talking to reporters.

LeFevre will be on parole for the drug crime until May 2013. She can't drink alcohol, possess firearms or associate with felons.