A week after two Florida convicts were recaptured after escaping using bogus release documents, authorities still are unsure exactly how or with whom the inmates coordinated their short-lived escape attempts. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is scrambling to ensure more prisoners aren’t on the loose.
Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker strolled out of the same Franklin Correctional Facility 12 days apart after prison officials received forged release papers. They were recaptured at a Panama City hotel Saturday evening.
In a press conference the following morning FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey told reporters that law enforcement officials had more questions than answers. After learning of the mistaken release, investigators were tipped off to the pair’s whereabouts by an acquaintance, who also told officers that the escaped convicts were planning on hitching a ride to Atlanta. But, officials still don’t know who was going to pick them up or how exactly the prisoners obtained the forged documents in the first place. What they do know is that Jenkins and Walker, who were sentenced to life for murder, used a copy of a judge’s signature to legitimize their phony paperwork. Department of Corrections Secretary Mike Crews stated that they’ve added another layer of verification immediately following the escape to prevent further attempts.
“We will now require before the release of any inmates that where we receive a modified order that deviates down a reduction in sentence from the original sentence, and certainly those that rise to the level of emergency releases – that is going to require an attestation by the judge that they in fact issued that order,” Crews said.
Previously prison officials simply verified release orders with the clerks of court. Now, corrections staff will need to verify the order directly with the judge. Still, the escape isn’t an isolated occurrence. In a follow-up press conference Tuesday, FDLE officials confirmed that it was actually the seventh such incident. That’s leading lawmakers like Orange Park Republican, Senator Rob Bradley to call for a hearing into Department of Corrections’ procedures.
“So, that’s the first goal – is fact finding – to find out what happened and what else has happened that we don’t know about, if anything. The second purpose of the hearing is to look forward and to determine what we need to be doing as a state to make sure this never happens again,” Bradley said.
Authorities still aren’t sure if the escapees had help from the inside or outside. FDLE’s Forensics Director David Coffman says the department has confiscated the correctional facility’s inmate computer and printer and will analyze the machines and documents to try and pinpoint where the bogus release papers might’ve been manufactured. Coffman expects that forensics investigation to wrap up soon.
“Well it just depends on the complexity of the case – we’re obviously expediting it and it can take anywhere from three to five days when we’re expediting a case. But, it depends on the volume of evidence and the quality of evidence we’re getting,” Coffman said.
But, Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker may not be the only escaped convicts FDLE has to worry about. At the Tuesday press conference, Commissioner Gerald Bailey was asked about the possibility that there could be more prisoners on the loose and Bailey couldn’t rule it out. He said the department is revisiting years of inmate releases to determine if any other convicts slipped through the cracks.
“Yes and we are worried about that and we will do everything we can to confirm whether there is or is not more out there,” Bailey said.
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice is expected to begin investigating Department of Corrections procedures in a hearing scheduled for November 6th.
