Mar 17, 2007 8:08 pm US/Mountain
Hering's Friend Apologizes Following Disappearance
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) ―
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CBS
A Boulder man has apologized for sending hundreds of volunteers on an expensive and dangerous search in Eldorado Canyon State park for a friend who had run away to avoid returning to his Marine unit.
The search last August and September for Lance Hering, 21, took five days and cost $33,000.
Steve Powers, 21, his friend, was convicted of misdemeanor false reporting and ordered to write an apology. A deferred sentence for a prior felony attempted-burglary charge was revoked because of the new violation, meaning he will be a convicted felon for life.
He was also ordered to serve 200 hours of community service and pay the entire restitution bill to the Sheriff's Office.
"At the time, my No. 1 goal was that Lance not get killed, and from there I really don't know what to say," he said.
Hering, a lance corporal Iraq veteran who was in a unit allegedly involved in the April 2005 shooting death of a 52-year-old Iraqi, was on leave from Camp Pendleton, Calif. He remains missing.
Powers later admitted dropping Hering off at a bus station in Denver hours before reporting him missing.
Their plan was for Powers to be accused of killing Herring, purposefully telling authorities things that were obvious lies, and be convicted at trial. After he had been imprisoned for six months or so, Hering would reappear, having bought some time out of the service, the Boulder Daily Camera reported Saturday.
"In looking back now, God, doesn't it seem dumb?" Powers said.
Powers said Hering wasn't afraid of service in Iraq but of the soldiers from his unit -- Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment -- accused in the killing. He believed they thought he may have seen something.
They put some of Hering's blood on a water bottle and Powers planted his fingerprints on it.
But Powers failed four lie detector tests. Deputies then found surveillance tape showing Hering getting on a bus in Denver.
"I was helping him," he said. "I knew what the cost was going to be, and I did it anyway." He says he has no idea where Hering is.
The Marines have said they don't have the manpower to look for him but there is a federal arrest warrant out.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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