Case Fields, the man who in 2016 ran over his girlfriend with his truck, breaking her leg, in downtown Bayfield and fled to Texas after his arrest, was sentenced to six years in prison Friday.
The sentence handed down by 6th Judicial District Judge Suzanne Carlson was the maximum allowed under a plea agreement. Fields, 39, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular assault and received a longer sentence than the three years requested by his attorney.
In court Friday, Fields appeared shackled in an orange jail uniform as he read a humbled allocution from a piece of yellow paper.
“I ran from these consequences of that day, very much so, for multiple reasons. Mostly, because I was scared,” he said.
Fields also emphasized to the judge the supportive role he plays in his children’s lives.
He initially faced assault, vehicular assault, false imprisonment and reckless driving charges, and at one point the much more serious first-degree assault charge, stemming from the Oct. 28, 2016, incident.
Fields and his then-girlfriend of seven years, Janelle Bilyeu, began arguing about money while driving from Ignacio to Bayfield, according to an arrest affidavit.
In what Bilyeu described Friday as an attempt to demonstrate his control over her, Fields was seething with anger while driving, swerving and banging his head on the steering wheel of his 1999 Chevy Silverado.
Fields eventually pulled into a parking spot in the 100 block of Mill Street in downtown Bayfield, where Bilyeu got out of the vehicle and ran for her life, she told the judge. The next thing she recalled was being on the ground, Fields above her yelling for her to get up, and strangers helping her upon realizing she had been run over.
Fields characterized the situation as a misunderstanding and told police he was trying to turn around to retrieve forgotten items from his home and did not realize Bilyeu had gotten out of the vehicle.
Deputies found skid marks from abrupt turning maneuvers and items that had been thrown out of the vehicle, according to the affidavit.
Bilyeu suffered a broken leg, hit her head and injured her elbow. She underwent at least two surgeries on her right leg.
Shortly after Fields posted a $6,000 bail, he cut off his ankle monitor and fled. He remained on the lam for nearly seven years until his arrest in Texas in August 2023.
Carlson on Friday heard two dramatically different depictions of the man before her.
Bilyeu and Deputy District Attorney Brad Neagos described Fields as a serial domestic violence offender – he has two previous cases, one involving Bilyeu from 2011 – who is a danger to women.
Through the occasional teardrop, Bilyeu described abuse she suffered at Fields’ hands, including multiple incidents in which he choked her.
“I’m afraid of seeing him in the streets when he’s released,” she said.
Fields’ defense attorney, Katharine Whitney, argued vociferously on behalf of her client, whom she said had grown significantly since the incident.
“People can change – even people with domestic violence convictions – people can change,” she told the judge. “And I think Mr. Fields is one of those people.”
Whitney added that on a personal note, she had never felt any sort of misogyny or disrespect from Fields. Part of her argument also focused on a recording of the 911 call made by a passerby on which Fields, she said, could be heard assisting in the response to the incident.
What would have been exonerating evidence, Whitney said, was lost during Fields’ lengthy absence.
In a 10-minute statement to the judge, Fields tried to paint a matured, domestic portrait of himself.
“I’m a family man,” he told Carlson. “Believe it or not, I’m just a regular guy.”
Fields’ mother and wife both offered terse statements in his support as well.
The judge was unconvinced.
Although she noted it appeared he had grown up significantly, she said nothing less than the maximum six-year penalty would be appropriate given the repeated nature of Fields’ actions.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
