A contractor accused of running off with thousands of dollars is free again. He even sent his victim a letter of apology when he was behind bars, but was set free before he could go on trial. Now she's wondering why he was released, and if she'll ever see her money again.

Licensed contractor Olin Whitaker wrote a letter to Erica Blatcher.

“I offer my sincere apology, sitting in this jail cell has caused me to see even deeper in your anger,” Blatcher read the apology letter.

Erica Blatcher says he stole $12,000 dollars from her and took off to Georgia where in May of last year the Louisiana Attorney General's Office tracked him down and had him arrested.

“I knew the only reason I got this is because he is sitting in jail,” she said. “It didn't move me.”

But once Whitaker was extradited to New Orleans to face theft charges, Erica began to watch the case through the Orleans Parish Docket Master. For two months, nothing happened, no formal charges file, and on September 13, 2007, Erica's phone rings with an angry Olin Whitaker on the other line.

“I'm going to sue you for having him falsely arrested,” he told her over the phone. “Sue me and the attorney general's office.”

Whittaker had been let out of jail, 701 released to be exact -- that means the DA's office under Eddie Jordan at the time didn't prosecute within 60 days after Whitaker was booked in Orleans, so he was let out.

Erica immediately called Byron Williams in the Economic Crimes Division at that time, who she says had promised her this release wouldn't happen.

“He assured me we would have two months to file formal charges, and it's going to be done,” she said.

Erica said he never gave a reason. “No, he never did, he never did."

The next day, the charges were re-filed, but Whitaker was out and has only showed up to one court hearing since. Now he's not answering her phone calls, nor the calls Eyewitness News made Tuesday, and the DA's office has him listed at-large. Erica feels back at square one.

“Disappointment, sadness, let down,” she described the emotions.

Erica now spends her time waiting to hear from the judicial system as she hangs onto the letter, as a piece of evidence she hopes to one day use at Olin Whitaker's trial.

“I know that this has been a while and I keep making empty promises,” Blatcher read more of the apology letter. “I will repay you, but when, I just don’t know.”

Olin Whitaker did call Eyewitness News, hanging up once and then calling back to answer some questions. He says he is back in Georgia and is suing Ms. Blatcher and the Attorney General's Office.  But when asked if he planned to turn himself in on his current arrest warrant, Whitaker wouldn't answer the question, saying only that he has an attorney.

The district attorney says he can not comment on why the case was dropped, stating that the Attorney General's Office didn't provide them the report until September 11, 2007, which was the last possible day to prosecute.