Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry has ordered multiple investigations into New Orleans’ criminal justice system after 10 men escaped from Orleans Parish Prison last Friday.
Authorities said the men broke out of the facility by climbing through a hole behind a toilet. Surveillance showed them leaving the jail through a loading dock.
“We have indication that these detainees received assistance in their escape from individuals inside of our department," Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said at a press conference Friday.
Three sheriff's office staffers were suspended without pay.
During an update on Sunday, Landry said the Attorney’s General Office will investigate the escape. He also directed the Department of Corrections to audit the Orleans Parish Correctional Facility for compliance with basic jail guidelines and to remove all inmates from the facility.
“The cost [of the audit], it doesn't matter what the cost is, the matter of fact is it needs to be done,” Landry said. “We're going to have that completed by the end of the week.”
As of this writing, only three of the escapees have been captured. Louisiana State Police Superintendent Col. Robert P. Hodges said the men could be in other parishes or other states.
Over the weekend, federal and state officials upped the rewards for information leading to their arrests. The FBI is now offering $10,000 per inmate while the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is offering $5,000 for each one.
“This massive jailbreak, which my statistics tell me could be the largest jailbreak in the history of this state, should never have happened,” Landry said .
Landry also plans to issue an executive order instructing the State Inspector General to identify all pretrial detainees still awaiting sentencing. He cited one escapee, Derrick Groves — convicted of second-degree murder in a 2018 Mardi Gras double killing in the Ninth Ward — as an example of how delayed sentencing played a role in the jailbreak.
“If he would’ve been sentenced by a court system, he most likely would not have had an opportunity to escape,” Landry said.
Landry also called on the state judiciary commission to investigate judges with high acquittal rates or slow case progress.
“There should be an automatic review of any judge that has a disproportionate number of acquittals as we have seen here in Orleans Parish,” Landry said. “As I mentioned, nine of these 10 escapees were sitting in jail waiting to go to trial. Had they gone to trial, had they been convicted, had they been sentenced, they would most likely not be in Orleans Parish Jail, and in our custody in one of the state penitentiaries.”
Sheriff Hutson was absent from Sunday’s press conference. In a statement, her office said it was not conducting interviews or holding press briefings.
“Sheriff Hutson and her team remain focused on locating and apprehending the remaining escapees,” the release stated.
When asked about her whereabouts Sunday, Landry said, “I don’t know—hopefully [she is] minding the jail.”
At a news conference last Friday, Hutson cited longstanding systemic issues for the jail’s security problems, saying she had “written letters to the consent decree judge, city council, and everyone who would listen” seeking funding help to fix defective locks.
At Sunday’s press conference, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said the city had allocated more than $577 million to the sheriff’s office over the past seven years.
“So we have been doing our part, my administration, and we will continue to do that on behalf of the residents and visitors that we serve every day,” Cantrell said.
