Cops help put away Kansas escapee

ALBUQUERQUE - A man who had fled from a Kansas prison, captured by Grants Police Department officers during a 2008 incident, was convicted by an Albuquerque federal jury of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition and possession of stolen firearms.

Steven Ford, 28, was found guilty of the charges last week. He could face life imprisonment if the court finds that he is an armed career criminal as defined by the federal law.

He, Jesse Lee Bell, 35, and Amber Goff, 25, were taken into custody after they fired shot at GPD officers after the two men escaped from a Kansas prison.

According to reports, Ford became romantically involved with correctional officer Amber Goff at the El Dorado Maximum Security Prison in Kansas. Bell and Ford escaped the facility with her help. She provided the men with firearms.

The three traveled west to Grants and were discovered at the Vista Mesa Villa Apartments. Ford fired four gunshots at officers before the three were taken in. No one was injured during the shootout.

Goff was convicted for transferring a firearm to a known felon and sentenced to 60 months in prison. She testified for the government against Ford.

Bell pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 24 years of imprisonment.

GPD officers Sgt. James Spidle. Sgt. Jason Fank and Officer Jesse Nieto and former Cibola County Sheriff's Deputy Jesse Terrazas testified in the Ford trial. The two-day testimony trial resulted in a jury conviction of Ford on all counts.

The case was referred to the U.S. Attorney's Office by District Attorney Lemuel Martinez after consultation with federal prosecutors.