Escaped work crew inmate sentenced to prison
Sep. 21—A Pittsburg County inmate who ran from a county work crew in July was sentenced to prison as part of a plea deal.
Court records show 28-year-old Christian Allan Franklin was sentenced to five-years in the custody of the Oklahoma Department Corrections for escape from county jail.
Franklin was also sentenced to concurrent five-year sentences for charges of driving under the influence, larceny of an automobile and malicious injury to property and was allowed to receive credit for time served per the plea agreement.
Franklin was arrested in May 2022 and was working as a trusty with a county crew from District 1 on July 20.
Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines "trusty" as "a convict considered trustworthy and allowed special privileges."
When the crew went to the McDonald's in McAlester for lunch, the inmate fled.
Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Morris told the News-Capital that deputies went and picked up Franklin from the Johnson County, Kansas Jail and brought him back to the Pittsburg County Jail on Aug. 5.
Morris said Franklin was in Olathe, Kansas when he turned himself in to authorities. The Kansas City suburb is located 312 miles from McAlester.
"He was just up there on the streets, and he seen an officer and turned himself in," Morris said.
As a part of the plea deal for his driving under the influence charges, Franklin is ordered to complete a victim impact panel, DUI school, and undergo a drug and alcohol assessment.
