An Ironton man who recently pleaded guilty to drug charges but failed to show up after a brief furlough will spend not five years in prison but 10 for his misdeeds.

Robert L. Esque Jr., 22, of 52 Township Road 338, pleaded guilty late last year to drug charges and was sentenced to five years in prison.

He was given a brief furlough before being sent to prison, but while he was out of jail on electronically monitored furlough he cut off his ankle monitor, left his house and did not report to authorities as scheduled.

He was indicted in January on a whole new set of charges to which he pleaded guilty Wednesday: escape, theft (stemming from the damage to the ankle monitor) and tampering with evidence.

Judge D. Scott Bowling sentenced him to a second five-year prison sentence that will run consecutively to the first five-year stint — a total of 10 years.

“I apologize for my actions,” Esque told Bowling. “I apologize to Mr. Bowen (Carl, chief probation officer). It was wrong for me to do that but I was scared and stuff.”

Bowling also ordered Esque to pay $550 for the cost of the ankle monitor he destroyed.

Also Wednesday, William R. Eastham, 36, of 717 Buckhorn St., Ironton, pleaded guilty on a bill of information to two counts of breaking and entering — and got a stern lecture from a less-than-pleased judge about the evils of his criminal activity.

Eastham is accused of breaking into the Lawrence County Garage and the Ironton City Garage in January. He took $7,500 in tool from the county and $640 in tools from the city. Judge Charles Cooper sentenced Eastham to four years community control sanctions under intensive supervised probation (CCS/ISP) and ordered him to successfully complete a rehabilitation program at a community based correctional facility, treatment he said he was never offered before. Eastham must also pay full restitution to both the city and the county.

“You know Judge, these crimes I committed, it was all when I was under the influence of drugs. That’s why I did them,” Eastham told Cooper. “I’m 36 and I’ve been doing this my whole life. I’ve been in jail quite a few times and I thank the prosecutor’s office for allowing me the opportunity to get help.”

Cooper told Eastham this should be the last time he shows up in court to answer criminal charges.

“I hope you are sincere about wanting to take advantage of it a rehab program). Your track record is one of the worst I’ve seen and there are two public institutions burgled of more than $8,000 and that restitution has got to be paid back,” Cooper said.