A brazen jail escape attempt has ended in prison time for a Jefferson County man.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Ronnie L. White sentenced Jason W. Woolbright, 48, to four years and nine months in prison for his role in the daring escape from the St. Ann jail.
The charges stem from a June 2021 incident where Woolbright arranged for the purchase of a 1996 red Ford Mustang and had it stashed near the jail. On the night of July 9, 2021, he and two other inmates made a break for it through a window.
The U.S. Marshals Service quickly caught up with the trio, apprehending all three within 24 hours.
The escape was just one part of a larger crime spree that had Woolbright facing charges. He was also found to be a felon in possession of a firearm, stemming from a traffic stop by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department on October 1, 2020.
During the stop, officers found a loaded Colt handgun under the driver’s seat and a Xanax pill in the van. Woolbright, who was on supervised release after being sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison on a 2013 drug charge, initially claimed he only had his prison ID, not a driver’s license.
The case was investigated by a joint effort between the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle T. Bateman prosecuted the case.
Woolbright pleaded guilty to the escape charge and the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm on March 9. His accomplice, Christina Louise Deal, 47, also pleaded guilty to a charge of assisting an escape and is scheduled to be sentenced in August.
Mandatory Facts:
Defendant: Jason W. Woolbright
Criminal Charges: Jail Escape, Felon in Possession of a Firearm
City and State: St. Louis, Missouri
Date: July 9, 2021 (escape), October 1, 2020 (traffic stop)
Sentence: Four years and nine months in prison
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Key Facts
- State: Missouri
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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