Published on Wednesday, April 5, 2006
in the Lakeland Ledger

Man Who Fled Prison Returns

A man who fled to Canada to avoid a 20-year prison sentence for two drunken driving deaths in 2002 is back in Polk County.

Jason W. Wright, 25, was detained by police in Ontario late last year, then extradited by the U.S. Marshal's Service and booked into Polk County Jail on Monday with no bail, said Chip Thullbery, spokesman for the State Attorney's Office.

Wright, of Port Charlotte, was arrested after a Dec. 22, 2002, crash on Interstate 4 near Polk City that killed Regina Cole, 34, and Marie Fisher, 15, both of Goldsborough, Md. A 10year-old boy was seriously injured.

Prosecutors said Wright was driving his sport utility vehicle east in the westbound lanes and hit another SUV head-on. His blood alcohol level after the crash was .082, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Wright was charged with two counts each of vehicular homicide and DUI manslaughter. In a plea agreement with prosecutors, he agreed to serve 20 years in prison, but instead ducked police and fled to Ontario where he "had family ties," Thulberry said.

Wright was rumored to be in Las Vegas, Ohio and Canada. He wasn't caught until the State Attorney's Office was tipped off that he was in Ontario, said Trooper Larry Coggins, a spokesman for the FHP.