By Michael Goot
The Post-Star, Glens Falls, N.Y.
FORT ANN, N.Y. — A former corrections officer at the Washington Correctional Facility is raising concerns that the prisoner who assaulted him was able to remain free pending sentencing and skipped his court date to go on the run for almost a year.
However, the district attorney says the suspect’s release conformed to the provisions of the bail reform law.
Andrew Ladd, of Fort Ann, was attacked by inmate Arthur Ellis on Dec. 3, 2020 at about 7 a.m.
Ladd noticed that Ellis was wearing nonstandard clothing and asked him about it. Ellis responded with “what are you going to do about it” and stood up at the end of his cubicle with crossed arms in a menacing manner, according to court documents.
Ladd then activated his personal alert button. Ellis then “lowered his head and charged at Officer Ladd using both his arms under the officer’s arms to push him up and drive him rearward.”
According to court records, Ladd then tried to grab his pepper spray, but Ladd knocked it out of his hands and tackled him to the ground. He then struck Ladd while three more officers came in to try to pull Ellis off Ladd.
Ellis, 39, was serving a sentence for assault at the time. He maxed out the sentence and he was formally charged in October 2021 with the assault on Ladd.
Washington County District Attorney Tony Jordan said the court had to go by the bail reform law. Because it was a violent felony, it was a qualifying offense and bail could be set. Ellis’ bail was $10,000 cash, $75,000 bail bond or $100,000 partially secured bond. At first, Ellis came to his court appearances after he was bailed out of jail, Jordan said.
Jordan said the case was scheduled for hearings in February 2022 in preparation for a trial. Then, Ellis agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of 5 years in prison. There was nothing to indicate that he would not appear for sentencing.
“The guy’s history of showing up was indicative of the fact that he would show up,” Jordan said. “And when he didn’t, he paid the consequences.”
Ellis was scheduled to be sentenced a few weeks after pleading guilty.
However, Ladd recalled receiving a phone call from the Washington County District Attorney’s Office that Ellis was shot in the leg during a drive-by shooting.
“He was going to be granted the ability to stay home and heal until he could go to prison,” Ladd said.
Ellis was scheduled to be sentenced in May 2022. However, that did not happen.
“He was nowhere to be found. He was on the run for over a year. Nobody knew where he was,” Ladd added. “It was just hell for me and my family because this guy was a 20-year felon.”
Ellis has a lengthy criminal record dating back to 2001, when he was sentenced to 3 years in prison for first-degree sexual abuse, according to the New York state inmate database. He violated parole and was sent back to jail in 2006 after being arrested on a charge of assault. Ellis was sentenced in Suffolk County in 2007 to two to four years in prison for assault. He was released in 2011.
That year, he was arrested and charged with first-degree assault-intent to cause serious injury with weapon and second-degree assault. He was sentenced in 2012 to 5 years in prison. He was paroled in 2016, but violated parole and was sent back to prison.
The court file does not contain much information about where Ellis ultimately was found. In March, he was arrested for allegedly failing to register as a sex offender and described as living in Fort Edward, according to Post-Star archives. He was arrested in June on the bail jumping charge while being held at the Elmira Correctional Facility.
Ellis pleaded guilty in Washington County Court in March to bail jumping and failure to register as a sex offender.
Ellis was finally sentenced in Washington County Court on July 21 to 1 to 3 years in prison for failure to register as a sex offender and 1 1/2 to 3 years in prison for bail jumping. This is on top of the 7 years in prison on the assault charge.
All of the sentences are to run consecutively, so he could face close to a decade in prison.
Ladd criticized prosecutors for plea bargains in which the defendants plead to lesser crimes. The sentence that Ellis was serving when he assaulted Ladd was for shooting someone in Suffolk County. It got pleaded down to second-degree assault.
“It should have been attempted murder,” Ladd said.
Ladd said he has been “put through the ringer.” He felt like he didn’t have a voice during the process.
Ladd worked at the prison for five years, has not returned to work since the assault. He had shoulder surgery and had to undergo physical therapy. Ladd said he cannot go back into that environment after all he has been through.
“It’s wreaked havoc on my family,” he said.
Jordan said there is no way to speculate what the judge would have been done pre-bail reform. His sense that the bail would have been set higher.
In the end, Jordan said Ellis is winding up with significantly more time than he would have gotten. Bail reform has ultimately led to longer sentences for some defendants.
“We’ve seen many people since 2020 end up with more significant consequences because of their conduct when they were out,” he said.
Another issue is the financial cost. Jordan said Ellis was found in Suffolk County. Police have had to get people who fled to Texas or Washington state or West Virginia.
“That becomes a significant taxpayer expense when they run and we have to go find them,” he said.
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