Inmate Who Broke out of Hennepin County Jail Pleads Guilty

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A serial burglar who broke out of Hennepin County Jail in November has pleaded guilty to an escape charge.

Fifty-seven-year-old Michael Simon pleaded guilty Wednesday as the judge and attorneys were setting his trial date.

The Hennepin County Attorney's office says Simon immediately was sentenced to 23 months in prison. He will serve that sentence after serving a 30-month sentence he received in December for a burglary.

On Nov. 28, Simon broke a window on the jail's seventh floor and climbed out onto the roof. He ran across the rooftop of a skyway into a parking ramp. He was captured in Little Canada later that day.

In court, Simon apologized to the state of Minnesota and Hennepin County for what he had done.