DARLINGTON — A Shullsburg man faces a felony charge of escaping custody by failing to return to the Lafayette County Jail on Nov. 17 after being out on Huber work release.

Jeremiah John Hocking, 27, was still missing on Nov. 27 when the charge was filed against him in Lafayette County Circuit Court, according to the criminal complaint. If convicted of the Class H felony, he faces up to six years in prison.

Hocking was serving a jail sentence for convictions of burglary, theft, resisting or obstructing an officer and failing to pay child support. His sentence allowed for Huber work-release privileges.

Court records indicate he left the jail on Nov. 17 to report for a shift at Mexican Cheese Producers in Darlington and never returned. When a deputy went to the cheese factory to investigate, “an employee confirmed that Jeremiah Hocking was no longer there and that Jeremiah was supposed to be there in the morning but he never showed up.”