A Centralia man convicted on a theft charge in September now faces a felony escape charge after he allegedly failed to report to the Lewis County Jail to serve his sentence.
The defendant, Daniel Joseph Widders, 36, was initially charged with second-degree theft in May for a September 2021 incident where Widders’s business, Widders Lawn Maintenance, took a $1,000 deposit for a job that Widders never completed.
Widders entered a guilty plea in early September 2022 and was sentenced in Lewis County Superior Court on Sept. 21 to 10 days in prison and 20 days under electronic home monitoring. The court ordered Widders, who was out of custody at the time, to report to the Lewis County Jail by 7 p.m. on Sept. 27 to serve his jail sentence.
On Sept. 29, the court entered an order extending that deadline to 7 p.m. on Oct. 11.
The jail later reported that Widders had not reported to the jail, nor had Widders appeared for a mandatory review hearing on Nov. 3, according to court documents.
A judge issued a warrant for Widders’ arrest the day of that review hearing. He was arrested on that warrant on Nov. 20 and was booked into the Lewis County Jail to serve his full 30-day sentence.
Widders will have to post $10,000 bail to be released at the end of that sentence, however, as he was charged with first-degree escape on Nov. 30.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
His arraignment hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 8.
