New details about the October escapes of two inmates locked up at a Franklin County prison suggest investigators are dealing with an organized criminal operation and investigators say more arrests are imminent.
Officials from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Department of Corrections and Clerks of Court confirm the forged documents that convicts Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker used to escape were manufactured within the prison’s walls. But, FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey explained that there’s no indication the inmates had help from corrections staff.
“We found nothing that indicates any criminal action by either employees of Franklin CI or the Orange County Clerk’s Office,” Bailey said during a subcommittee meeting Wednesday. “However, it was very clear that there was an organized scheme among, at least, a group of inmates. We don’t know how far yet that that scheme went.”
Bailey also said evidence gathered from the escapees’ hotel room in Panama City suggests a prison gang was training inmates how to forge documents using the facility’s inmate computer. During the same meeting, officials confirmed that one of the inmates had a contraband cell phone and was using it to coordinate with someone on the outside.
