Arkansas woman is sentenced to 15 YEARS for posing as sheriff’s deputy and forging fake documents to break her boyfriend out of jail
- Maxine Feldstein from Feyetteville was given 15 years in prison after forging documents and posing as a deputy to help her boyfriend break out of jail
- Feldstein pleaded guilty on Monday to charges including criminal impersonation
- Washington County Detention Center was duped by the fake deputy L. Kershaw
- Lowe pleaded guilty to third degree escape and was given one year in prison
- Feldstein told them due to overcrowding all low-priority extraditions were suspended and the center believed her
- A Ventura County Sheriff’s Office deputy called to say he was coming to collect Lowe two days later, which alerted police to the escape
A woman has been given 15 years in jail for helping her boyfriend break out of jail by impersonating a sheriff’s deputy.
Maxine Feldstein, 30, pleaded guilty on Monday to several charges, including criminal impersonation, and was sentenced to 30 years in prison at a courtroom in Arkansas.
However half her sentence was suspended by the judge, meaning she was serve 15 years, KFSM reported.
Feldstein presented false paperwork to the Washington County Detention Center in July 2018, which fooled jailers into releasing her boyfriend, Nicholas Lowe in July 27.
Maxine Feldstein (left) from Feyetteville,Arkansas, posed as a deputy to help boyfriend Nicholas Lowe (right) escape Washington County Detention Center July 27
It took the Ventura facility two days to figure out they had been duped by the fake deputy, named ‘L. Kershaw’ they had liaised with on the phone.
They only figured it out when a real Ventura County Sheriff’s Office deputy made the call to say he was coming to collect Lowe.
The couple were later arrested in Fayetteville about a month after the incident.
In court earlier this week, Feldstein pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal impersonation, forgery and third-degree escape.
Lowe pleaded guilty to third degree escape and was given one year in prison, with credit for 167 days served. He must abide by a five-year suspended sentence after he is released from the Arkansas Department of Correction.
Washington County verified that the documents were not real and that a deputy by that name didn’t even exist.
After checking video surveillance they believe the plan was hatched when the jailed man’s partner visited him.
Feldstein had been in the same jail when they were both arrested July 14 but was released on bail the next day.
She was arrested on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance while he was in for false impersonation, reports Democrat Gazette.
Feldstein presented false paperwork to the Washington County Detention Center, (pictured), in July 2018, which fooled jailers into releasing her boyfriend, Nicholas Lowe in July 27
Lowe pleaded guilty to third degree escape and was given one year in prison, with credit for 167 days served. He must abide by a five-year suspended sentence after he is released from the Arkansas Department of Correction
An affidavit states Lowe convinced his girlfriend to use the excuse that they were ‘having issues with overcrowding and all low-priority extraditions have been suspended’.
With Lowe facing a felony charge of second-degree escape, they were held on respective bails of $16,500 and $15,000, with Feldstein getting the higher bond.
In the meantime, the sheriff’s office is figuring out how to make sure nothing like this is repeated.
Spokeswoman, Kelly Cantrell, told 5newsonline.com, they are ‘still evaluating to determine the best corrective action needed to ensure this doesn’t happen again.’
Despite the accident happening so easily, she confirmed they do in fact have existing measures to verify these kinds of things.
‘There is a procedure to ensure requests are legitimate, and that hasn’t changed,’ she added.
Their court date has been scheduled for September 7.