photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Randy Washee Ahtone Sr.

A 31-year-old man who was accused last summer of damaging cars with a ukulele “used as a weapon” took a plea deal Thursday that resolved four criminal cases against him, and he was ordered to serve a year in the Douglas County Jail.

The criminal damage charge against Randy Washee Ahtone Sr., which had already been reduced from two felonies to a misdemeanor, was dismissed altogether after he agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of escaping from custody, which had also been originally filed as a felony. In two other cases that he was on probation for — a probation that attorneys said had not been “successful” — the probation was dismissed as part of the plea deal; those cases involved interference with law enforcement and aggravated battery.

Senior Judge Mike Ward, filling in for Judge Amy Hanley, made Ahtone personally provide a factual basis to support his guilty plea to escaping from custody. Ahtone, who is hearing impaired, asked through a sign language interpreter, if his hands could be uncuffed so that he could use them to communicate. Ward allowed one hand to be uncuffed, noting Ahtone’s history of escaping.

Ahtone told the court that in December of last year he escaped from the Douglas County sheriff’s custody after he had been taken to a treatment center. No other details were provided, but Ward found the admission sufficient to convict him.

Pursuant to the plea agreement, Ward sentenced Ahtone to 12 months in jail with credit for 49 days already served. He also waived all fees and costs due to the indigency of Ahtone, who chose to make no statement before being sentenced.

In the ukulele case, which was entirely dismissed, Lawrence police said witnesses had reported that an apparently highly intoxicated man in the 1200 block of Kentucky Street hit multiple vehicles with the musical instrument “turned into a weapon,” then chased a moving car down the street. The car kept moving and the man reportedly broke the windshield out of another parked vehicle and dropped the ukulele.

Kansas Department of Corrections records indicate that Ahtone has a 2017 felony conviction for criminal threat in Johnson County, as well as the two felonies in Douglas County that he had been on “unsuccessful” probation for. KDOC records also indicate at least three instances of absconding while under supervision.

No mention of a criminal history score was made during the misdemeanor sentencing. A criminal history score, combined with the severity level of the crime, is what generally guides felony sentences of the court, which is not bound to follow recommendations in the parties’ plea agreement.