The Oklahoman

Jail escapee pleads guilty in multiple cases

- By Tim Willert Staff writer twillert@oklahoman.com

A murder defendant who made a daring early morning escape from the 12th floor of the Oklahoma County jail pleaded guilty this week to three felony counts related to the escape and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Pablo Daniel Robledo pleaded guilty to escaping from a penitentia­ry, conspiracy to commit a felony and malicious injury to property, according to court records. Robledo, 34, of Oklahoma City, and cellmate Jose Balentin Hernandez, fashioned bedsheets into a rope more than 100 feet long and escaped July 31.

Hernandez fell and broke his ankle. He was spotted by Oklahoma City police officers prone in the grass after making his way just outside the jail's secure perimeter, an investigat­or reported. Robledo was captured hours later on foot in southwest Oklahoma City.

In an arrest affidavit, an investigat­or said the inmates were able to escape about 5:20 a.m. by cutting the welds of a metal grate and then breaking through the glass blocks in their cell. They anchored the rope to the leg of a metal desk in their cell. After climbing from his cell, Robledo scaled a wall to get out of a secure area at the rear of the jail. "A diagram of the facility was found drawn on a piece of paper with the specific areas that the inmates escaped from drawn in detail," the investigat­or wrote.

Robledo was accused of involvemen­t in a fatal gang shooting in Oklahoma City in 2019. He pleaded guilty Aug. 28 to first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit a felony and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He also pleaded guilty to an assault charge of beating another inmate in December and in a contraband charge of having a cellphone in jail and received 20-year prison sentences in each of those cases.

Under an agreement reached with prosecutor­s, Robledo will serve his sentences at the same time, court records show.

Three criminal cases against Hernandez, who is accused of raping a woman, are pending.

 ?? [DAVE MORRIS/ THE OKLAHOMAN] ?? Two inmates escaped from the Oklahoma County Jail on July 31 by tying together bedsheets to use as a rope after breaking out a window. One of the escapees has pled guilty to several charges, including escape.
[DAVE MORRIS/ THE OKLAHOMAN] Two inmates escaped from the Oklahoma County Jail on July 31 by tying together bedsheets to use as a rope after breaking out a window. One of the escapees has pled guilty to several charges, including escape.

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