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She's accused of helping mastermind a jail break, and now Toby Young will be spending at least a little more time behind bars herself, her attorney said Friday.

Young, the 48-year-old prison volunteer charged with aiding and abetting aggravated escape and aiding a felon, is being held in the Leavenworth County Jail on $100,000 bond.

Young's attorney, Jim Yoakum, said after a brief court appearance Friday morning that bond wouldn't be posted anytime soon.

"I don't anticipate her bonding out anytime prior to the next court hearing, March 17," he said.

Yoakum told a pack of reporters outside the Leavenworth County Justice Center, "You guys can go home - you don't have to camp out."

Young appeared Friday with Yoakum before Leavenworth County District Judge Frederick Stewart, who set a scheduling hearing in the case for 9 a.m. March 17.

Young will not contest the bond, her attorney said.

Photo by Richard Gwin

Toby Young, a dog trainer accused of helping a convicted killer escape from Lansing Correctional Facility, appears Friday morning in Leavenworth County District Court. Her bond has been set at $100,000, but her attorney says she probably will remain in jail for the time being. Her next court date is March 17.

"Given the level of the alleged crime and the notoriety of the case, we really felt the court made a fair decision on the $100,000 bond, so we're not going to dispute that," Yoakum told reporters.

Yoakum, who said he had known Young's family "my whole life," said he had talked briefly with his client.

"She's doing good. She's glad to be back in Kansas," Yoakum said.

Young was the president of the Safe Harbor Prison Dog program at the prison. Authorities say that on Feb. 12 other inmates in the program loaded a dog crate containing convicted killer John M. Manard into the Safe Harbor van, and that Young drove the van out of the prison. Young's familiarity with a guard allowed the van to leave the prison grounds without being searched.

Manard and Young eluded authorities for 12 days, staying in a cabin in rural Alpine, Tenn., before their capture Feb. 24.

Authorities have said Young was intimately involved in the escape, the planning for which, they added, dated to late December.

Yoakum declined comment about whether Manard had manipulated Young into helping with the escape, but noted Young "has no criminal history. She's never been in trouble with the law before."

Members of Young's family were in the audience of the packed courtroom but declined comment after the hearing.

Yoakum said the family was "100 percent" behind Young. "They're just glad that she's safe," Yoakum said. "She was in a very dangerous situation for quite some time."

Young faces up to 32 months in prison if convicted, but Yoakum said if the case reached that point, he would seek probation for his client.

"If there's some kind of a conviction or if there's some kind of plea, absolutely we would argue for probation," he said.

Manard, meanwhile, has been returned to the Lansing Correctional Facility and placed in administrative segregation. Deborah Owens, a spokeswoman for Leavenworth County Atty. Frank Kohl, said Friday that Manard had not yet been formally charged in the escape and that no court date for his case had been set.

Photo by Richard Gwin

Relatives of Toby Young gather at the Leavenworth County District Court after Young's appearance Friday. From left are Young's mother and father, Peggy and Jim Phalen, and Young's sister, Julie.

Manard is serving a life sentence for the 1996 murder of Donald England during a carjacking in Johnson County.

Kansas Department of Corrections spokesman Bill Miskell said Manard will be alone in his cell and allowed out one hour a day, five days a week. The rest of the time he will be locked up and allowed to talk only to his attorney and clergyman. Miskell said Manard could have 10 years added to his sentence.

Copyright 2012 The Lawrence Journal-World. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. We strive to uphold our values for every story published.

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Jane 6 years, 8 months ago

Sounds like you have issues jackyboy.