A Mohave County Superior Court judge added five more years in prison to the sentence of a Bullhead City man already scheduled to serve 25 years behind bars.
Chase Salveson, 47, was recently sentenced following a change of plea hearing conducted in Kingman.
Salveson was granted a unique furlough after he had pleaded guilty to drug and weapons offenses on March 7, 2018, following the search of his Mirada Drive apartment in Bullhead City the previous November. Authorities said they confiscated 27 grams of methamphetamine, 10 grams of heroin, 63 grams of marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms, pills and weapons.
The plea deal in that case that included the furlough provision required Salveson to surrender the following day and to show up for his sentencing the next month. He did neither and spent roughly seven months on the lam before he was arrested in Bullhead City.
Salveson pleaded guilty May 8 to escape and failure to appear charges for not fulfilling his promise to turn himself in. Prosecutor Megan McCoy said it was a lesson learned why furloughs usually are not granted.
“I’d like to apologize to the court and to Ms. McCoy for taking advantage of the opportunity,” Salveson said. “I made a bad situation worse.” Salveson also conceded six previous felony convictions, one of them for abandonment of a body in a high-profile homicide case.
Mohave County Superior Court Judge Derek Carlisle rejected a defense request to run Salveson’s new prison sentence concurrent with the longer term. The judge noted Salveson’s extensive criminal history and his failure to surrender as promised as he extended Salveson’s prison stay another half decade.
- Dave Hawkins
