Prisoner accused of van escape in Wyoming pleads not guilty

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - A man accused of escaping from a van full of prisoners in Wyoming has pleaded not guilty.

Kenneth James Ward, 57, entered the plea to a felony escape charge Tuesday in Natrona County District Court.

Ward was being held on $1 million bond. His attorney, Joseph Hampton, didn't immediately return a message seeking comment.

Ward also faces federal charges in Montana for allegedly dumping radioactive oilfield waste. Ward has not yet entered a plea to wire fraud and conspiracy charges in that case, according to court documents.

Authorities say Hampton ran away in 2013 when a prisoner van stopped near Independence Rock in central Wyoming.

Surveillance footage shows Ward slipped around the back of a rest area building when guards weren't looking, investigators said.

Barely a week earlier, Ward was arrested in Mexico for allegedly leaving the country despite a $1 million bond in Sweetwater County.

The Casper Star-Tribune reports law enforcement officials arrested Ward in New Mexico in 2018.