CONWAY — Jack Gillean, the University of Central Arkansas’ former chief of staff and a former deputy attorney general, walked quietly out of the Faulkner County jail Wednesday after finally surrendering on felony charges filed almost a week ago.

Gillean, accompanied by his attorney and two sisters, was inside the jail more than two hours before he was allowed to leave after being fingerprinted and photographed and posting bond.

Bail was set at $17,825, meaning Gillean had to post 10 percent of it — the standard practice in such cases.

Gillean, 55, is charged with three felony counts of commercial burglary, one felony count of fraudulent insurance acts and one misdemeanor count of issuing a false statement.

He was charged Friday and had told authorities he would be in Monday, then said Tuesday but didn’t show up either day. The reason for the delay was unclear.

An affidavit accompanying the charges filed Friday in Faulkner County Circuit Court alleges that Gillean gave two UCA-issued keys to a student and knew the student planned to use the keys to enter professors’ offices and steal tests. Gillean accompanied that student, ex-Marine Cameron Stark, on one burglary, the affidavit says.

Stark, 24, is no longer enrolled at UCA, where he made the dean’s list for the spring 2012 semester. He has been given limited immunity from prosecution, Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland has said.

A somber Gillean wore a suit and was cleanshaven Wednesday — the goatee he had displayed for some time now gone. He said nothing to reporters other than to refer questions to his attorney, Nicki Nicolo.

“I know the prosecution has some problems with the witnesses they are trying to put forward. And, of course, Mr. Gillean professes his innocence,” Nicolo said.

“These are false allegations,” she contended. “We’re here to clear his [Gillean’s] name and set the record straight.”

Nicolo declined to say how Stark came to have Gillean’s two keys. “We’re not getting into the facts of the case at this time,” she said.

Nicolo called Stark the prosecution’s “star witness” and said, “There will be some revealing information that will come to light soon.” She said she was referring to information about Stark but would not give details yet.

Asked if she would include that information in a pretrial motion, she said she would discuss what steps to take with Sam Perroni, a Little Rock lawyer who knows Gillean and who will consult on the case.

The affidavit indicates authorities have information to corroborate Stark’s statements from other witnesses, who are not identified by name in the document. According to the affidavit, those witnesses include Gillean’s former domestic partner, a man who now is about 21.

Hiland said he did not want to comment beyond what he has said previously. On Tuesday, Hiland said, “It would be inappropriate for us to comment on the evidence that will be presented.”

He said the defense attorney, as with any case, would have the opportunity to “review the discovery” and then “make an informed decision as to the relative strength or weakness of his or her client’s case.”

Gillean will be arraigned Nov. 19, on the same date and in the same courtroom where his former boss — ex-UCA President Allen Meadors — is to enter a plea on a misdemeanor charge in an unrelated case.

Circuit Judge David Reynolds is scheduled to preside that day. Reynolds, however, will be leaving the circuit judgeship in January for a district-court post.

Meadors’ attorney, Tim Dudley of Little Rock, has said he hopes he can enter the plea on his client’s behalf so that Meadors won’t have to drive from his home in North Carolina.

Meadors, who resigned in September 2011 over a food vendor’s botched offer of $700,000 to renovate the UCA-owned president’s house, is charged with one count of solicitation of tampering with a public document.

Gillean, who joined UCA in 1996, resigned June 15 after being asked about his grandmaster key.

The issue arose after UCA police questioned Stark about a June 9 drug theft on campus and learned Stark had that key and another of Gillean’s keys.

Stark had worked in the president’s office in the spring of 2011, but Gillean fired him after the two had a disagreement, according to the affidavit. The test thefts took place between Feb. 13, 2011, and April 23, 2011, the affidavit says.

Gillean held various positions at UCA over the years, including general counsel. He previously had handled criminal cases for the attorney general’s office and had worked for Jim Guy Tucker when Tucker was governor.

Commercial burglary is punishable by three to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. The fraud charge — which stems from a wreck authorities say Stark had on Gillean’s motorcycle — is punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. The misdemeanor charge is punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a fine of up to $500.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 10/11/2012