Oklahoma Fugitive Sentenced

SHERIDAN, Wyo. (AP) -- Ten years after he fled Wyoming to avoid a jail term, Mark Mendenhall has been sentenced to a week in jail and has apologized to his victims.<br/><br/>Mendenhall had been living

Wednesday, February 7th 2007, 9:17 pm

By: News On 6

SHERIDAN, Wyo. (AP) -- Ten years after he fled Wyoming to avoid a jail term, Mark Mendenhall has been sentenced to a week in jail and has apologized to his victims.

Mendenhall had been living in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, when authorities finally caught up to him.

In 1996, Mendenhall crashed into a police cruiser and a group of juveniles in downtown Sheridan. He spent two months in jail for reckless endangerment.

When he got out of jail, he was cited for driving on a suspended license. That's when he fled to Oklahoma, where he started a new life.

Back in Sheridan Tuesday, Mendenhall was sentenced to a week in jail for failing to show on the suspended license charge. And he was ordered to pay restitution from the original crash.

He apologized to the family of a boy who was injured in that crash. They say he should apologize to their son, too, but that they're satisfied he's a changed man.