A man was sentenced Friday for escaping while being transported to jail. It was an escape that made Douglas County Correctional Facility question jail policies and procedures for transporting inmates.
On Jan. 23, 21-year-old Raymond Thomas escaped while being transported from the University of Nebraska Medical Center to the jail.
Authorities said he had pulled out a bar of soap that was carved into a gun. The guards thought it was real and Thomas escaped in their vehicle.
Thomas had been in jail for attempted robbery.
Now he faces an additional 10 to 20 years in prison for the escape.
"I thought the judge was fair. He had a lot of latitude for the time he could give Mr. Thomas. Taking into account his mental health history, it's a fair sentence," said deputy county attorney Shawn Hagerty.
Thomas' mental health history came into question several times during the sentencing.
In July 2006, Thomas was charged with four counts of assault on an officer in connection with escaping his restraints during a shower.
On Friday in court, two of those counts were dropped in exchange for a guilty plea.
"I think the plea bargain was appropriate to let the judge know who he was, what he was suffering from," said Thomas' attorney Joe Howard.
Thomas suffers from manic depression, NewsWatch 7 reported.
Thomas' other attorney, James Martin Davis, said Thomas became unruly once in prison because his medication was no longer given to him.
"All of the offenses that took place are all kind of silly. All part of a comic opera -- running around naked out of a shower, carrying a gun made out of soap," Davis said.
Thomas said in court that he has apologized to the officers he hurt.
"I try to learn from my mistakes every day," he said.
Douglas County Corrections officials said they have changed some of their procedures after the escape. They said they did not want to make most of the measures public for security reasons.
They said that on routine transports of high-risk prisoners, such as to a hospital, Douglas County sheriff's deputies will accompany jail guards.
More News From KETV.com:
Police Detectives Detail Crime Scene In O'Grady Case