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.

Fifty-seven-year-old Kenneth James Ward 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.

Authorities say Hampton ran away in 2013 when a prisoner van stopped near Independence Rock in central Wyoming. He was arrested in New Mexico in 2018.

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