Woman pleads guilty to leading police on chase

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The woman who helped her boyfriend escape from a correctional facility in April pleaded guilty to one count of failure to comply Wednesday for leading police on a chase.

Jamie Victoria Jarrett, 38, of Galloway, Ohio, appeared in Delaware County Common Pleas Court for a change of plea hearing after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Jarrett had been scheduled to stand trial Thursday and faced one count of failure to comply with the order or signal of a police officer, a third-degree felony; one count of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony; and one count of obstructing justice, a fifth-degree felony.

Assistant Delaware County Prosecutor Cory Goe detailed the plea agreement for Delaware County Common Pleas Judge Everett Krueger and said that Jarrett would plead guilty to the failure to comply charge and the other two charges would be dismissed.

Goe said that he and Jarrett’s defense attorney, Christopher Soon, would jointly recommend that Jarrett serve 24 months in prison.

Jarrett told Krueger that on April 4 she and her boyfriend, recently escaped convict Troy B.T. Byrd, were on the run and said she contacted a friend in Delaware to get some food. The friend agreed to meet her at Dollar General, but Jarrett said while they were waiting, Delaware police cruisers pulled up.

“I just drove,” Jarrett said. Jarrett told Krueger she drove down London Road and got on U.S. 42 South, travelling at between 55 and 65 miles per hour. “I didn’t stop at all.”

Jarrett said she pulled over just after crossing into Union County and she and Byrd were taken into custody. Jarrett added that she wanted to begin serving her sentence as soon as possible.

Krueger accepted her guilty plea to the charge, but did not sentence her on Wednesday. Krueger said he did not know enough about her to go along with the two-year prison sentence and ordered that a pre-sentence investigation be conducted.

Jarrett became aggravated when Krueger refused to sentence her Wednesday and said she “has been doing nothing but sitting here” in the Delaware County Jail. Jarrett said in that time, she has not been able to see her kids and wanted to get her sentence started.

Krueger said he understood her frustration, but said Jarrett she could have changed her plea at any time because “you had control of the situation.”

A sentencing hearing for Jarrett was then scheduled for Aug. 14 at 11 a.m.

Jarrett was returned to the Delaware County Jail Wednesday afternoon.

Byrd, 28, has pleaded not guilty to one count of failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer, a third-degree felony. He is currently scheduled to change his plea on June 29 at noon.

Byrd and Jarrett are reportedly also facing charges in Athens County for orchestrating Byrd’s escape from the SEPTA Correction Facility in Nelsonville on April 1.

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By Glenn Battishill

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Glenn Battishill can be reached at 740-413-0903 or on Twitter @BattishillDG.

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