Samuel Tweed, 74, from Mark Street in Newtownards, County Down, had also admitted possession of a haul of guns along with 2,500 rounds of ammunition.
He escaped from custody at Belfast Magistrates' Court in May 1974 when he was facing firearms charges.
He had been arrested in connection with the discovery of a weapons cache in the city the previous month.
The haul included 10 revolvers, nine pistols, a sawn-off shotgun and assorted ammunition.
Tweed was 32 when he escaped after a group of men entered the courtroom and claimed there was a bomb in the building.
He remained undetected until his arrest in 2012.
First Minister Peter Robinson was one of a number of DUP politicians who wrote letters urging the judge not to jail Mr Tweed.
The court also heard that the great-grandfather had led a law-abiding life since his escape and was suffering from bad health.
The judge told the court that although Tweed was a younger man when the offences were committed, that did not diminish their seriousness.
"I am satisfied that you have lived a lawful and law-abiding life over the last 40 years," he added.
"However, that does not mean that the offences are any less serious; far from it.''
A pensioner who escaped from a court more than 40 years ago has been jailed for two and a half years.