Escape adds years to man's prison sentence
Toolbox
By Josh O'Gorman STAFF WRITER - Published: May 18, 2009
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A Stratton man who escaped from furlough and burglarized a number of businesses in Ludlow has been sentenced to six to 12 years in prison.
Gregory N. Sommer, 44, received the sentence in White River Junction District Court May 11 following guilty pleas in December to four counts of burglary and one count of attempted burglary.
Under the plea agreement, Sommer's sentence was capped at 12 years and the state withdrew its notice to seek an enhanced penalty due to his criminal history, which included 18 prior felony convictions across three states between 1994 and 2007.
According to affidavits filed with the court, Feb. 5, 2008, Sommer was released on furlough. Eleven days later, he failed to check in with his parole officer and Feb. 19, 2008, the Department of Corrections placed him on escapee status.
Police believed Sommer was responsible for a string of burglaries in Ludlow on March 14, 2008, stealing laptops, cameras and checks that he later forged and cashed. It was the forging of the checks that led to his eventual capture.
Bank employees had been notified to be on the lookout for Sommer, and March 25, 2008, he entered a bank in Bennington and tried to cash a check, according to affidavits. The employee called the police, who later found Sommer in a stolen vehicle filled with stolen property, police said.
Last week, Sommer was sentenced in Bennington District Court to five to nine years on charges of forgery, possession of stolen property and escape, according Bennington County Deputy State's Attorney Michael Munson. That sentence is consecutive to the two-to-eight-year sentence Sommer was serving prior to his furlough and concurrent to the sentence he received May 11 in White River Junction District Court.
Sommer's overall controlling sentence is eight to 20 years, according to Windsor County Deputy State's Attorney Heidi W. Remick. He is incarcerated in Springfield prison, according to the state Department of Corrections.
josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com
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