VAN NUYS : Inmate Who Escaped Guilty in Drug Case

An inmate who twice escaped custody has been convicted in Van Nuys Superior Court of dealing drugs.

Lee Martin, 37, was convicted by a jury Friday of possession for sale of methamphetamine. The same jury acquitted Martin of two cocaine charges stemming from the same incident April 17, 1991, when cocaine and a handgun were found in a compartment in the Corvette he was driving.

Martin pleaded guilty late last year to two counts of escape, including a daring 1991 New Year’s Eve breakout. In that incident he climbed through ceiling panels in a holding cell at the Van Nuys courthouse. He was on the lam for two months before a SWAT team rearrested him at a Granada Hills home.

A month later in Whittier, he ran away while being transferred from a Sheriff’s Department bus to a holding facility. He was quickly taken back into custody.

He is scheduled to be sentenced for the escapes today, but this will probably be delayed because of a complicated plea-bargain arrangement, Burns said.

Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp will sentence Martin on the methamphetamine charge Sept. 22. He could receive a maximum prison term of three years.