A man who failed to return to the Casper Re-Entry Center in December last year was arraigned and sentenced in Natrona County District Court before Judge Catherine Wilking today.

Justin Collins, 27, was charged with a felony for escaping detention, punishable by 10 years in prison.

Assistant District Attorney Blaine Nelson said that a pre-sentence investigation report indicates Collins has had difficulty with probation in the past. Collins was within six months of completing the program. Therefore, an 18-36 month sentence is apropriate, to run concurrent with a sentence on a separate matter.

Public Defender Tim Cotton said, "Certainly there is a consequence and this is it." Cotton told the court that his client has been incarcerated since he was 19 -- he is now 27.

The judge asked Collins what happened; he said he was having trouble that day as he had gotten his third write-up for drug abuse -- "I was gone for 24 hours, I knew I was going back."

Collins pleaded guilty to the felony charge. Wilking accepted his plea and sentenced him to the reccomended amount of incarceration.

He is already serving time for an offense that occured nearly ten years ago in Campbell County. He was convicted on two counts of accessory before the fact in an auto burglary.

Cotton told the court his client is expecting to finish the sentence for that conviction in December of this year.

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