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Nine Recaptured New Orleans Jailbreak Inmates Plead Not Guilty to Escape Charges

Arraigned after a six-week manhunt, the inmates face escape charges alongside 16 alleged accomplices as authorities probe jail security failures.

FILE - This photo combo shows inmates who escaped from a New Orleans jail, from left top: Keith A Lewis, Dkenan Dennis, Gary C Price, bottom from left, Robert Moody, Kendell Myles, Corey E Boyd. (Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office via AP, File)
Sterling Williams

Overview

  • The nine recaptured inmates pleaded not guilty to simple escape charges that could add two to five years to their existing sentences.
  • They appeared for arraignment via Zoom from the Louisiana State Penitentiary, where an attorney for the lone fugitive, Derrick Groves, attended but entered no plea on his behalf.
  • Authorities say the May 16 breakout unfolded after inmates pried open a locked door, removed a toilet to breach a cell wall and scaled a barbed-wire fence under cover of darkness.
  • A coordinated local, state and federal manhunt over six weeks returned nine escapees by June 27, leaving Groves as the sole detainee still on the run and subject to a $50 000 reward.
  • Probes into prison infrastructure and staffing failures have led to state-ordered audits, employee suspensions and at least 16 arrests of individuals accused of aiding the jailbreak.