{"id":41234,"date":"2025-05-20T14:38:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T18:38:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/?p=41234"},"modified":"2025-05-20T14:38:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T18:38:19","slug":"new-orleans-jail-employee-arrested-after-allegedly-helping-10-inmates-escape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/new-orleans-jail-employee-arrested-after-allegedly-helping-10-inmates-escape\/","title":{"rendered":"New Orleans jail employee arrested after allegedly helping 10 inmates escape"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The New Orleans prison worker who was arrested for allegedly helping 10 violent inmates break out last week claimed one of the prisoners threatened to \u201cshank\u201d him if he didn\u2019t assist them. <\/p>\n

Sterling Williams, 33, admitted to cutting off the water in the cells at the Orleans Parish Justice Center so the inmates could pull the toilet from the wall and escape.<\/p>\n

Williams, who was arrested late Monday, claimed one of the escapees informed him of the plan and threatened him with retaliation if he refused to cooperate, according to an arrest affidavit.<\/p>\n

Williams \u201cwillfully and maliciously assisted with the escape,\u201d authorities said in the court document. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf the inmates removed the sink in the cell and disconnected the rest of the plumbing with the water still on, the plan to escape would not have been successful and potentially flooded the cell, drawing attention to their actions,\u201d they added. <\/p>\n

Only four of the 10 prisoners have been captured as of Tuesday morning, with three other jail employees currently suspended as police investigate the escape.<\/p>\n

Williams\u2019 arrest comes after Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson revealed that jailbreak was likely an inside job.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost impossible, not completely, but almost impossible for anybody to get out of this facility without help,\u201d Hutson said of the Orleans Justice Center, a correctional facility where about 1,400 people are held.<\/p>\n

Attorney General Liz Murrill is leading the probe into the breakout as she called on anyone with any information about the incident to reach out to her office.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will uncover all the facts eventually and anyone who aided and abetted will be prosecuted to the full extent the law allows,\u201d Murrill said in a statement. <\/p>\n

Williams, who was initially processed at the Orleans Parish Jail before being relocated to another detention center, was charged with 10 counts of principal to simple escape and one count of malfeasance in office.
\nPolice identified convicts Jermaine Donald, 42; Antoine Massey, 33; Leo Tate, 31; Lenton Vanburen, 27; Derrick Groves, 27; and Corey Boyd, 19; as the suspects still on the loose. <\/p>\n

Inmate Gary Prince, 21 \u2014 who was convicted of attempted murder, domestic abuse and aggravated assault \u2014 was the latest escapee captured Monday evening.
\nThe fugitives have a plethora of crimes on their rap sheets, ranging from murder to domestic abuse to burglary, officials said. <\/p>\n

While those who have been arrested so far have been caught inside Orleans Parish, authorities have warned that some of the fugitives may have left the city or state of Louisiana. <\/p>\n

Video of the prisoner\u2019s Friday night escape has gone viral, including the notes they left on the prison\u2019s walls mocking the jail\u2019s security, with one writing: \u201cTo Easy LOL.\u201d <\/p>\n

The incident has also prompted several staffers at the District Attorney\u2019s Office to flee the city out of fear of retribution from the prisoners. <\/p>\n

Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams said authorities allowed hours to pass before the inmates\u2019 victims and witnesses were notified, putting their lives in danger. <\/p>\n

The FBI\u2019s New Orleans office is currently offering a $10,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of each of the prisoners. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New Orleans prison worker who was arrested for allegedly helping 10 violent inmates break out last week claimed one of the prisoners threatened to \u201cshank\u201d him if he didn\u2019t assist them. Sterling Williams, 33, admitted to cutting off the water in the cells at the Orleans Parish Justice Center so the inmates could pull…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[251,89,313],"class_list":["post-41234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wls-news","tag-251","tag-news","tag-urban"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/new-orleans.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41234"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41237,"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41234\/revisions\/41237"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/worldlatinstar.com\/wls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}