Lee
LIMA — A man who escaped from Allen-Oakwood Correctional Institution last May pleaded guilty in Allen County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday to one count of escape.
Judge Jeffrey Reed sentenced James Lee, 48, to serve eight to 12 years in prison for the escape charge, a second-degree felony.
Lee, who is already serving 18 years in prison from a 2021 conviction in Auglaize County for burglary, safecracking and breaking and entering, escaped from Allen-Oakwood last spring alongside fellow inmate Bradley Gillespie.
The duo escaped the prison by concealing themselves inside a trash receptacle headed for the Rumpke Refuse transfer center on Metcalf Street on May 22 of last year, nearly 20 hours before authorities raised an alarm of the missing inmates, according to findings released by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
Authorities captured Lee on May 28 after he failed to pull over for a traffic stop in Hendersonville, Kentucky.
Gillespie, who had been imprisoned since 2016 for murder, escaped the traffic stop on foot, but authorities later discovered his body in the Ohio River.
Lee pleaded guilty in October to several charges related to the traffic stop, including evading police, wanton endangerment and failure to pull over.
His latest sentence handed down Tuesday will be served consecutively with the others. Reed did not grant Lee jail-time credit for time served awaiting trial.
Allen County Public Defender Kenneth Sturgill represented Lee. Assistant Allen County Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Carp represented the state.
