One of the
five prisoners who escaped from the Chatham County Jail in Pittsboro
in February has been sentenced to almost nine years of jail time for
charges stemming from the escape.
Adrian Carlos
Reyes was charged with escaping the Chatham County Jail on Feb. 4,
2008.
During his
trial last week, he entered pleas of guilty to two counts of
kidnapping, one count of common law robbery, and one count of
escape.
There were
two counts of kidnapping because the escapees handcuffed one prison
guard and tied up another during the escape.
The common
law robbery charge was for taking the radio, keys and a small amount
of cash from one of the jailors who was kidnapped.
Reyes
received the maximum sentence allowed by law for the escape which is
45 days. Escape from local county pre-trial confinement is a
misdemeanor, regardless of the charges on which you are being held,
said Kayley Taber, managing assistant district attorney for Chatham
County.
Reyes, at the
time of his escape, was in custody for first degree rape of a child,
first degree sex offense with a child and six counts of felony
indecent liberties with a child. Punishment for these crimes exceeds
70 years.
He also has a
detainer filed on him by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
For the
crimes committed during the escape, Judge Allen Baddour sentenced
him to the maximum: 36 to 53 months for each of the two counts of
second degree kidnapping to run at the expiration of each other, and
45 days for the escape.
His maximum
sentence is just under nine years, although he still awaits trial on
the rape, sex offense and indecent liberties charges.
Three of the
escapees: Brian Blackwell, 16-year-old James Tarrer, and Stewart
Baldwin are awaiting trial.
Kyle Kettrey,
22, of Pittsboro pled guilty May 19 to the same charges as Reyes and
was sentenced 20-32 months in jail, much less than the sentence for
Reyes.
Taber said
the lighter sentence was a result of several factors.
"When Kettrey pled, his
sentence was at the discretion of the judge," she said. "I believe
his youth, the nature of the crimes for which he was in jail at the
time of the case, and his lack of prior criminal record were
factors. Additionally, evidence was presented to the Court that he
did not participate in the planning of the escape. He joined in at
the last minute when another inmate backed out of the plan."
