BOULDER — A silent Lance Hering and his mother were in Boulder District Court today as his attorney tried to get at least some of the former Marine’s criminal record erased.
Hering is accused of lying to authorities for staging his disappearance in Boulder in August 2006, signaling the start of the most expensive search in Boulder County history.
When he left Boulder, Hering was almost done with a two-year deferred sentence he received in October 2004 for second-degree burglary and obstructing a police officer.
If he would have successfully finished the two-year sentence, the felony burglary and obstruction charges would have been removed from his record.
Hering’s lawyer and a Boulder prosecutor agreed today that the false-reporting charge stemming from his August 2006 disappearance should be given priority. A possible plea deal on that charge could result in the 2004 burglary conviction going away, they said.
A hearing is set for March 9 to deal with the false-reporting charge.
“The case will either be resolved then or a date will be set to go to trial,” said prosecutor Dave Cheval.
Talks continue about a possible plea deal in the false-reporting case, said Hering’s lawyer, Alexander Garlin. “I expect the talks will be more comprehensive now,” Garlin said.
The former Marine corporal has said he fled Boulder because he didn’t want to return to his unit in Iraq. Boulder County spent more than $33,000 trying to find Hering, who was originally reported as a missing person.
But Hering, with the help of a friend, staged his disappearance. He was arrested in Washington more than two years later — on Nov. 16 — before he was to take off in a Cessna with his father as the pilot.
Hering and his mother, Elynne Hering, declined to comment Wednesday.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
