Woman sentenced to 11 years for jail escape

CLOVIS - A woman was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges stemming from her short-lived jail escape this summer.

Kaitlyn Martinez-Arington, 26, faced up to 19 years in the open-ended agreement, but Judge Matthew Chandler ran her 8-year prior felony enhancements concurrent with one another and consecutive to two 18-month sentences for each of her new convictions: escape from jail and battery on a health care worker.

Deputy District Attorney Jake Boazman said the state recognized Martinez-Arington's drug problems, but wanted to issue a strong message against jail escapes. He briefly detailed the Aug. 6 escape effort, in which Martinez-Arington overpowered a contract healthcare employee at the Curry County Adult Detention Center and was apprehended hiding in an attic the next day.

"We cannot allow that image to be projected, that you can just leave our facility," he said. "It sends the wrong message to this community if she does not get the maximum."

Defense attorney Sandra Gallagher said her client had a substance abuse issue behind every one of her prior convictions and grew up in an environment "where this has been an issue."

"Methamphetamine has been at the bottom of all of this," she told Chandler. "I think it's incredibly sad..."

Randall Arington appeared at the plea hearing and told the judge his daughter "needs to get help," speaking to his own experience as a recovered drug addict.

"I have to do it every day," he said. "There's no ifs, ands or buts about it."

Martinez-Arington sobbed at various points in the hearing and addressed the judge in tears.

"I realize the image I give you and I give to your community, and I understand that's wrong," she said. "I realize that and I do take accountability."

With that said she asked for less than the maximum sentence, stating she had two young children and wanted them to know her.

Chandler told Martinez-Arington she had appeared in his court in 2015 and asked her what would be different after sentencing now, to which she replied that she was inspired by her father's recovery and had already become involved in jail drug rehabilitation programs.

Chandler encouraged her to stay with those efforts while in prison.

"So many people come before this court with an addiction to methamphetamine," he said. "It's a horrible, dangerous drug that has destroyed numerous lives and families, to include your own."

By the terms of the deal, two other cases involving fourth-degree felonies were dismissed. Boazman said Martinez-Arington faced over 60 years in prison if tried and convicted on all of those charges, including multiple prior-felony enhancements run consecutively.

Twin brothers Donald and David Gibson, each charged with assisting Martinez-Arington in the escape effort, are scheduled for jury trials this month and next, respectively, on the charge of harboring or aiding a felon.