CLEARFIELD – A man who escaped the Clearfield County Jail and was later captured hiding under his daughter’s trailer, was sentenced to state prison Friday.
Police say Robert Lee Miller, 51, and Donald John White, 46, fled while on a work detail on the property on May 30. They shed their prison uniforms and crossed the street into a wooded area.
Officers with K9 units searched the area but were unable to find the two men.
White was apprehended on June 17 after a tip led police to locate and apprehend him following a chase, according to other media reports.
Miller was captured June 26 after repeated reports from neighbors who saw him at his daughter, Amber Dunsmore’s residence in Lawrence Township.
During a special sentencing court session on Friday, Miller who was pleading guilty to escape in one case and misdemeanor receiving stolen property and possession of drug paraphernalia in a second apologized for his actions.
President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman stated “for all the trouble you caused yourself, it (escaping) was not worth it.”
Ammerman then sentenced him to serve a total of 30 months to five years in state prison.
In the second case, he was also ordered to pay $2,650 in restitution.
According to court documents, officers searched Dunmore’s residence multiple times without finding Miller.
On June 26, a neighbor advised officers that Miller was hiding under the trailer in a crawl space that he accessed via a trap door inside near a water heater.
Dunsmore who had been warned previously that she would be facing charges if she was hiding her father, again denied her father was in her home. When asked the location of her water heater, she initially said she didn’t have one, then said it was broken.
She gave police permission to search her home where they found the water heater and trap door under a carpet. After opening the door, an officer was able to see Miller hiding in a small crawl space. He was then taken into custody.
It was noted in the report that insulation had been pulled down to block the crawl space from view outside.
The affidavit in Miller’s second case details how the victim discovered an item stolen from his storage unit for sale online. He arranged to meet the seller who was identified as Miller.
White was sentenced on Monday by Judge Paul E. Cherry to a total of 6 ½ to 15 years in state prison for the escape case and five other cases.
Dunsmore, 27, pleaded guilty in November to conspiracy/escape, hindering apprehension and conspiracy-permitting/facilitating escape and was sentenced to 12 months to three years in state prison by Ammerman.
In a second drug related case, she was given an additional term of incarceration of 18 months to five years for possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and endangering the welfare of a child. Her total sentence is 30 months to eight years.