SKOWHEGAN – The sentencing of a Bingham man who pleaded guilty last week to kidnapping his estranged wife once and then kidnapping her again less than a week after he was released from jail has been postponed until next week.

Derek Miller, 29, was expected to be sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison in a plea agreement with Somerset County District Attorney Evert Fowle. Charges of rape and terrorizing were dropped as part of the agreement, which, according to court documents, includes a sentence of 18 years in prison with all but 12 years suspended and eight years of probation.

Fowle could not be reached Thursday for comment as to why the sentencing was postponed to May 6.

Miller pleaded guilty last week in Somerset County Superior Court to terrorizing, violating the conditions of his release and one count of kidnapping. He pleaded no contest to a second count of kidnapping and criminal threatening.

Police charged Miller in September 2004 of abducting his estranged wife at gunpoint in late August from her Bingham home and sexually assaulting her. Although Miller threatened the woman not to tell anyone, she reported the kidnapping to police.

Miller also had held a gun to the woman’s head in early August, an incident that Fowle said she originally was afraid to report.

After the August kidnapping, Miller was arrested and bail was set in Skowhegan District Court at $100,000 surety or $10,000 cash. Miller’s attorney, Walter Hanstein of Farmington, requested a bail review, and Superior Court Justice Joseph Jabar reduced Miller’s bail to $40,000 surety.

“That is still a fairly significant bail,” Fowle, who argued against the reduction, said after Miller’s second arrest. “But Mr. Miller had no previous record, and we do not use bail for preventative detention. It is unfortunate, however, when you look at what happened afterwards.”

Six days later, at 7:30 a.m., a co-worker found the woman’s unoccupied car in the parking lot of the Bingham Health Center on U.S. Route 201, where she works. Her purse was inside the vehicle, and the car’s engine was running.

A massive manhunt was launched which continued for two days until the woman walked into the police command post in Bingham after fleeing from Miller.

Miller was rearrested and has been held since on $5 million bail.