craigdailypress.com

A county judge wouldn't sign off on a plea agreement Wednesday that would have sent a man to prison for two years for walking away from a Craig correctional facility in November.

Charles Edward Yoder, 41, of Craig, faces a felony escape charge for leaving the Correctional Alternative Placement Services facility on Ranney Street.

Yoder, who was at CAPS for a 1996 escape and illegal weapons conviction, was arrested in Grand County, Utah, nine days after his escape.

On Wednesday, Moffat County Judge Mary Lynne James said she wanted more time to consider the agreement in Yoder's case.

The plea would have sent Yoder to the Colorado Department of Corrections for two years. He also would have been sentenced to five years of mandatory parole.

Yoder's lawyer, public defender Sheryl Uhlmann, said in court Wednesday that Yoder would waive his right to a preliminary hearing to accept the deal.

Judge James said she didn't know enough about Yoder's previous cases to make a decision Wednesday.

"I'm not going to agree to two years if he really deserves another 24," James said, referring to Yoder's original sentence.

James said she wanted more time to review the case before making a decision. She rescheduled Yoder's case for a hearing March 7.

Yoder had been at CAPS for about six months when he walked away Nov. 17.

He was arrested in Grand County, Utah, on Nov. 26, along with his son, Kenneth Yoder, 20, who also was an escapee from a Colorado correctional facility.

Police arrested Yoder and his son at a home near Moab, Utah, after a three-hour standoff.

Authorities extradited Yoder back to Colorado in January.

Brandon Johansson can be reached at 824-7031, ext. 213, or bjohansson@craigdailypress.com.