News Photo by Julie Riddle Defendant Rachel Nevins, seen in the bottom-right corner of this photo of a videoconferenced court hearing, dabs at her eyes during sentencing after she admitted to helping her boyfriend escape from police.

ALPENA — A woman who admitted to helping her boyfriend evade police will be allowed to avoid jail if she participates in an inpatient program for non-violent offenders, a judge in Alpena’s 26th Circuit Court said Monday.

Rachel Nevins confessed in February that she lied to police about the location of Jared Barnett, whom she knew to be eluding arrest for a serious offense.

Barnett was recently sentenced to 34 months in prison for resisting and obstructing an officer, carrying a concealed weapon, and drug possession.

In exchange for Nevins’ guilty plea to a single count of accessory after the fact, charges of possession of a controlled substance and habitual offender second offense were dismissed.

Judge Benjamin Bolser sentenced Nevins, who is not currently incarcerated, to one year’s probation, with a seven-month jail sentence to be dismissed if Nevins successfully completes the Tri County Community Adjudication Program in Saginaw.

As a precaution against COVID-19, the program is currently not accepting new participants. When it does allow new people to enroll, incarcerated people will be admitted first, Nevins’ attorney said.

Alpena County Prosecutor Cynthia Muszynski cautioned Nevins, via a screen in the videoconferencing software Zoom, that, given the defendant’s criminal record, TRICAP is likely her last resort. Nevins was previously convicted of selling heroin on multiple occasions in 2015 and 2016.

The man with whom Nevins was involved at that time went to prison, Muszynski said.

“This is pretty much the end of her opportunities,” Muszynski said, pointing to Nevins’ history of being influenced toward criminal behavior by a questionable taste in boyfriends.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.