A Boulder man who helped stage a missing Marine’s disappearance last summer pleaded guilty Monday to false reporting and will have to write an apology letter to be printed in a local newspaper.
As part of his plea deal, Steve Powers – the 21-year-old who first reported his friend Lance Hering injured in Eldorado Canyon, then later recanted the story – will have to have the apology letter published in the Boulder Daily Camera.
Boulder district attorney’s spokeswoman Carolyn French said Powers also must perform 200 hours of community service and pay restitution, though French didn’t know how much.
The Daily Camera reported Monday on its website that Powers is accountable for the $33,000 bill that sheriff’s deputies, park rangers, search and rescue volunteers and others tallied during an intensive eight-day hunt for Hering.
“It’s nice to get the restitution back,” Boulder Sheriff’s Commander Phil West said. “Of course, we’ll never get back all the time that was expended on this.”
Neither Powers nor his attorney could be reached Monday evening, and Powers’ father declined to comment.
Powers first told authorities on the morning of Aug. 30 that Hering, a Marine lance corporal on leave from Iraq, hurt his head while the two were climbing in Eldorado Canyon. When searchers got to the area where Powers said Hering was hurt, all they found was a water bottle, climbing shoes and blotches of blood – all things Powers later told police were planted there, according to court documents.
In an interview with detectives on Sept. 5, Powers confessed to helping stage Hering’s disappearance to get Hering out of having to return to duty. Video obtained later from the downtown Denver Greyhound bus station shows a man who appears to be Hering buying a ticket out of town the morning Powers reported Hering missing.
Sheriff’s detectives have had little luck in tracing Hering, West said.
Leads have hit dead ends, and Hering hasn’t contacted his parents, West said.
“It’s still unresolved as to where Mr. Hering is,” West said. “He needs to be apprehended, as well, to be held accountable for his part in this.”
Hering’s parents have created an online message board, where people can post thoughts and support.
In one recent post, Hering’s mother, Elynne, wrote, “Lance, as you search and wander may you always know you are cared for. I miss you and hope you have food and shelter.”
Elynne Hering declined to comment for this story.
If found, Hering faces a similar charge of false reporting, a misdemeanor, authorities said.
On Monday a judge also revoked Powers’ deferred sentence in a 2004 attempted burglar case, meaning he will now carry a felony conviction on his record.
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
