Las Vegas man sentenced for his part in prison escape

A Las Vegas man was sentenced Monday to 12-30 months in the Nevada State Prison for helping a man escape from Northern Nevada Correctional Center.

Keith Michael Barney, 33, was arrested on Sept. 2 on suspicion of accessory after the commission of a felony.

According to the criminal complaint, from Aug. 25 to Sept. 2, Barney aided Jody Thompson by driving to Northern Nevada to pick up Thompson, then driving him back to Las Vegas. Barney continued to aid Thompson's escape by providing him with housing, food and clothing.

"Without Barney's assistance, Thompson's escape and subsequent return to Las Vegas would have been more difficult," Chief Deputy Attorney General Conrad Hafed said. "In light of Barney's aid, he must share responsibility for Thompson's criminal conduct."

The state of Nevada has two other pending cases, against Las Vegas residents Kaisa Haynes and Daniel McLeroy, in connection with Thompson's escape.

Thompson, 24, escaped the correctional center on Aug. 25 by hiding in the back of a Prison Industries delivery truck.

He was captured Nov. 29 after fleeing an apartment in Las Vegas. He was serving 12 consecutive sentences of up to 121Ú2 years for kidnapping, burglary and robbery with a deadly weapon, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

After his escape, Thompson was suspected of committing several crimes in Southern Nevada, including a bar robbery in Las Vegas.

A plea agreement was made in December with Ana Kastner, 41, a former dental assistant at the correctional center in Carson City, who is charged with aiding and abetting an escape. Kastner is accused of giving a cell phone to her boyfriend Thompson, who used it to coordinate his escape. She was in contact with him before, during and after the escape, prosecutors said.

Kastner's roommate Carolyn Thomas was also investigated as a possible suspect in the case. Thomas, also a dental technician, was already on administrative leave while being investigated for allegedly smuggling contraband into the prison, said prison officials.

In addition, prison authorities and Reno police in August arrested Tanner Kendrick, 27, a recent parolee; and Michael Scott Woolf, 43, a former inmate who served sentences for drug dealing and attempted home invasion.

Both were arrested on charges of aiding and abetting the escape. Kendrick, a former teacher who served a prison sentence for sexual conduct with a student, was also charged with violating terms of his parole.