Arkansas Woman Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison for Posing as Sheriff

jailbreak couple

A woman in Arkansas who posed as a sheriff's deputy to bust her boyfriend out of jail has been sentenced to jail for the next fifteen years after she pleaded guilty in Washington County Circuit Court to forgery, third-degree escape and second-degree criminal impersonation on Monday.

Maxine Feldstein, 30, was arrested after she posed as Ventura County Sheriff's deputy "L. Kershaw" at the Washington County Jail in July 2018. Prosecutors say Feldstein presented forged documents to jailers to fool them into freeing her boyfriend, Nicholas Lowe.

Lowe reportedly told Felnstein to pose as a sheriff's deputy, and to tell the staff at the Washington County Jail the sheriff's office was "having issues with overcrowding and all low-priority extraditions have been suspended," court documents state.

Two days later, a real deputy from the Ventura County Sheriff's Office called the jail to let them know he was on his way to pick up Lowe. That's when jail officials realized they'd been had. Investigators found video recorded at the jail in which Lowe and Feldstein discussed the plan to free him.

The couple was arrested a month later in Fayetteville.

Feldstein was originally sentenced to 30 years in prison, KFSM-TV reported, but the judge suspended half of her sentence.

Lowe pleaded guilty to third-degree escape and was given a year in prison with