Mar 21, 2018 2 min read

The Dilliner man who escaped from Greene County jail in December 2015 pleaded guilty Monday to federal charges for illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.

Waylon Hanlan Jr., 30, pleaded guilty in federal court to three charges of violating federal firearms laws, United States Attorney Scott Brady announced in a release.

He was accused of illegally transporting a firearm from out of state into Pennsylvania in 2015. Hanlan is a convicted felon, and federal law prohibits anyone convicted of a crime with a sentence longer than one year from having a firearm. Hanlan could face 10 years in prison, up to a $250,000 fine or both.

Arrest warrants were filed in March against Hanlan and his brother, Shane Hanlan, 31, both of 859 Bald Hill Church Road, after federal prosecutors said Waylon Hanlan purchased a .22-caliber rifle out-of-state in June 2015 and brought it back to Pennsylvania.

Investigators claim both Hanlans possessed the rifle at some point after Waylon escaped from Greene County jail Dec. 27, 2015, and Shane Hanlan helped him elude authorities for about two days.

Waylon Hanlan had been about halfway through his nine-month Greene County sentence for a probation violation when he escaped from the jail. Shane, along with their two other siblings, Vanessa Hanlan and Clinton Hanlan, have been convicted of helping Waylon either with his escape plans or aiding him while he was on the run.

Waylon pleaded guilty to the escape last April and was sentenced to serve two to four years in state prison.

U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer set Hanlan’s sentencing hearing on the federal charges for July 27 at 11:30 a.m.