A New Orleans prison plumber accused of helping 10 detainees burst From a correctional center of the Orleans parish in May is used as a scapegoat, his lawyer announced on Thursday while Sterling Williams had pleaded not guilty in court.
“He is a man who has never had any problems in his life, and suddenly he will work, a work in which he has worked for years without any problem, and he is used as a scapegoat and thrown in prison,” said the lawyer of Williams, Michael Kennedy, outside the courthouse of the parish of Orleans.
Williams is the only prison employee among more than a dozen people Responsible for helping the prisoners. One of the fugitives who escaped remains on the run, more than two months later.
A familiar source with the investigation indicates to CBS News that some prison guards are still on unpaid administrative leave while waiting for a state investigation into their potential involvement. The Sheriff’s Office of the Orleans parish did not respond to requests for comments Thursday on the number of employees on leave or if employees have been released.
In May, the Sheriff’s office said that three workers had been suspended without salary while the office conducted an internal investigation.
Kennedy demands more responsibility for state and city officials who, according to him, have failed to ensure prison.
In May, only a few days after the escape, the sheriff of the parish of Orleans, Susan Hutson, who oversees the prison, said that she “took full responsibility” for the escape, but also the pointed blame of the city of New Orleans for having ignored its repeated requests in the last five years for additional money to repair the degrading prison infrastructures, in particular Broken security cameras.
Last week, the sheriff’s office obtained $ 15 million in state emergency funding to make these critical security upgrades.
“Improvements must be made, they should have been treated,” said Kennedy. “I mean, it’s a 10-year-old building we are talking about. Why is he already collapsing? Why did we need $ 15 million in renovations or upgrades when the building has only one decade? Because no one has taken care of, because our city does not work in a team.”
Jailbreak fascinated the nation for weeks after the film type escape.
The 10 detainees torn the walls of the wall of an unoccupied prison cell and crawled in a hole that they sculpted in the wall behind it, said sheriff officials in May. The detainees were seen on surveillance cameras fleeing a delivery terrace and passing over the interstate-10 in the middle of the night. They were not noticed missing for seven hours.
Photos published by the Sheriff’s Office after the escape showed that men have left messages on the wall, including “To Easy Lol” and “We Innocent”.
The Louisiana prosecutor’s office said Williams had cut the water to the prison cell to help prisoners escape without flooding the cell.
According to an affidavit for an arrest warrant, Williams told investigators from the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation that he had been threatened by one of the prisoners, Antoine MasseyBefore escaping. The Affidavit said that Williams said that Massey had threatened to “insert” him if he did not close the water.
Kennedy previously declared that his client “nor had conspired with the escapees and did not act out of fear”. In an interview with CBS News in May, Kennedy said that Williams had been asked by another goalkeeper to unclog a toilet, although no work order has been placed.
The lawyer argued that the prisoners escaped obstructed the toilets to make sure that someone extinguish the water, suggesting that it was a “well -planned escape”.
Asked what type of evidence could exist to support these statements after Thursday’s hearing, Kennedy said: “I’m not going to reveal our defense strategy, but what we have is an innocent man, and I look forward to that you understand all of this with me.”
However, according to the arrest affidavit, Williams was also seen on a surveillance video before the escape to speak with Massey and another detainee escaped, Derrick Groves, who tried to take Williams’ phone and wanted Williams to adopt information on cash applications in Groves in another part of the prison.
Now two months after the escape, Groves is the only escape that has not yet been captured. He was found guilty of murder for his involvement in a shooting in 2018.
The other nine detainees are in detention in correctional facilities outside New Orleans.
In response to the allegation of the Attorney General that Williams let out dangerous criminals escape, Kennedy said: “The Attorney General is wrong.”
Four other alleged accomplices, Lenton Vanburen Sr., Patricia Vanburen, Angel McKay and Tyshanea Randolph, also pleaded not guilty during his appearance in front of the courtyard by video. Police said they had helped the fugitives while they were on the run, bringing food, offering shelter or offering transport.
Following the hearings of indictment, the attorney general of Louisiana, Liz Murrill, said that whoever had a role in the jailbreak would be held responsible.
“This includes those who have helped interior and outside prisoners. All aid and accomplices will be arrested (and) prosecuted to the full extent of the law. This includes anyone who currently helps Derrick Groves,” she said in a statement.
Kennedy also criticized the State for keeping its client held on a high obligation – $ 1 million.
“It is important to obtain a lower link for my client, because in America, we always appreciate freedom and freedom, and hold someone under a ridiculously high link, it should be the exception, not the rule,” said Kennedy. “The deposit is supposed to be high enough to ensure that someone will come back to court. Not so high that we create a debtors’ prison, which is exactly what it is.”
Kennedy asked for a bond reduction audience on Thursday. It will take place on August 19 when a discovery hearing should also examine evidence against Williams and the other four people charged as accomplices.
