Former BA Teacher On The Run For Decades Sentenced To Prison

A former Broken Arrow teacher is headed to prison after being on the run for 30 years.

Ronald Lyons was found guilty of drug charges and having lewd photos in 1986. He was sentenced to nine years in prison but he took off.

Lyons surrendered recently, and Wednesday he was given his original sentence plus one more year for bail jumping.

Prosecutors said it's a shame Lyons can only get one year for bail jumping - that's the maximum allowed by law whether you're on the run six weeks or 30 years.

2/2/2018 Related Story: Prosecutors Want 30-Year Fugitive To Serve Original Sentence

Lyons was a Broken Arrow school teacher who admitted having sexual relationships with some of his students.

Police said he often gave the young teenage girls drugs and took nude photos of them. They said he even had a photo hanging in his bedroom.

Prosecutors said at the time Lyons was convicted, a doctor said Lyons had a high risk of re-offending.

"So, of course, my concern would be, wherever he's been along the way, there's no telling at this point how many other lives he has affected," said Tulsa County Assistant District Attorney Sarah McAmis.

Prosecutors believe the way things have changed, if Lyons committed these same crimes now he'd be looking at much more than 10 years behind bars, but they are bound by the sentence given at the time.

"I would anticipate, perhaps, a lot greater sentence would've been achieved," McAmis said.

Because the laws were different back then, Lyons will not have to serve 85 percent of his crime and he will not have to register as a sex offender when he gets out.