Colorado judge accuses Welty of 'gamesmanship'

Julie Marshall, the Colorado judge overseeing Ward Ryan Welty's criminal case in Fremont County, said the circumstances surrounding Welty's failure to appear Tuesday look "a little bit like gamesmanship," according to a report in the Cañon City Daily Record.

From the report:

"By his own action, he does not appear in court," Marshall said Tuesday at what would have been the beginning of Welty's trial. "Frankly, it looks a little bit like gamesmanship. He was certainly aware that the trial date was today."

Welty, the former manager of Tropical Lei in Upland and two other strip clubs, was sentenced to 270 days in custody and subsequently jailed Monday in West Valley Superior Court.

He pleaded guilty locally to three felonies: soliciting a child for sex, possession of steroids for sale, and possession of child pornography. In Colorado, he faces five felonies and could be sentenced to life in prison.

Welty was arrested in June 2008 after he traveled to Colorado to allegedly meet a woman willing to involve her 9-year-old daughter in sex. The woman Welty communicated with was an undercover police detective.