Tyler

By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer

A Tyler man serving a 60-year-prison sentence for a drug conviction reportedly tried to escape from Smith County sheriff deputies but was quickly captured.

Rickie Dawson York, 39, was a convicted felon on parole when he was sentenced to prison in March for possessing methamphetamine in Bullard.

On June 25, he was brought back to Smith County from an Amarillo prison for a court hearing in which 241st District Judge Jack Skeen Jr. appointed him a new appellate attorney. He was housed in the Kaufman County Jail, awaiting transportation back to prison.

At 10:50 p.m. Thursday, Smith County sheriff deputies were transporting York back to the Smith County Jail from Kaufman County so he could catch a bus to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Friday morning, Smith County Chief Deputy Gary Pinkerton said.

After the deputies pulled into the sally port of the jail, York allegedly managed to free his hands from the handcuffs and took off running on foot, he said. After a brief chase, he was quickly caught by officers and taken into the jail.

York was transported back to prison Friday, but not before he acquired a new criminal charge — escape. The third-degree felony, which carries a sentence of two to 20 years in prison, could be enhanced because of his prior convictions.

York pleaded guilty to possessing 1.46 grams of meth on Oct. 16. A Smith County jury sentenced him to 60 years on March 5.

The third-degree felony, which carried a punishment range of two to 10 years in prison, was enhanced to a first-degree, with a possible sentence of 25 years to life in prison, because of his two prior felony convictions. York will have to serve 15 years before he is eligible for parole.

Bullard Police Officer Shawn Johnson testified that about 3 a.m. on Oct. 16, he was traveling in the area of U.S. Highway 69 and Farm-to-Market Road 346 when he spotted a car parked in front of a closed business, that had been burglarized in the past. Johnson said he found York sleeping inside the car, which was running with its lights on.

The man did not have identification, claimed to be waiting on his girlfriend and said he thought he was in the New Chapel Hill area. After receiving consent to search, Johnson said he found two bags of meth and a bag of marijuana in the man’s pocket. York asked the officer if there was anything they could do to work something out, but Johnson arrested him.

Jurors were shown a videotape of the incident.

He possessed 1.46 grams of meth and 2.93 grams of marijuana, according to lab reports.

York, also known as Mark Burton, was convicted of delivering marijuana in Dallas County in 1996 and possessing a prohibited weapon in Smith County in 2006, for which he was on parole. Beginning in 1987, he has also has been convicted of theft, possession of a controlled substance, failure to identify/fugitive from justice, criminal mischief and theft by check.

Rickie Dawson York
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