A brief furlough before being sent to prison is meant to be exactly that — brief.

A man learned that to his detriment Wednesday.

Aaron Porter, 32, of Huntington, W.Va., pleaded guilty to one count of attempted escape.

In September 2007, Porter pleaded guilty to one count of burglary and was sentenced to three years in prison. At that time, there was an agreement that if Porter stayed out of trouble while he was in prison, he would be eligible for judicial release after one year. He was released for a one-week furlough. When he failed to show up, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest and an escape charge filed against him.

While the charge was amended to attempt to escape, Assistant Lawrence County Prosecutor Brigham Anderson declined to honor any previous commitments regarding early release.

“That agreement is off the table,” Anderson said.

At the request of the prosecutor’s office, Judge D. Scott Bowling sentenced Porter to a year in prison for the new charge and three years for the old one. Porter must serve all four years before he is released.

“I’m sorry, your honor, that you had to go through all of this. I know this cost a lot of money,” Porter told Bowling. “I apologize.”