Sheriff, CFO charged in New Orleans jailbreak

by · UPI

April 30 (UPI) -- A New Orleans sheriff and her jail's chief financial officer face multiple charges relating to a May 2025 escape of 10 inmates.

A special grand jury indicted Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson and the jail's CFO Bianka Brown on 30 charges. Hutson's charges are all felonies, while 20 of Brown's charges are felonies. Hutson's bond was set at $300,000, and Brown's was $200,000.

"While Sheriff Hutson did not personally open the doors of the jail for the escapees, her refusal to comply with basic legal requirements and to take even minimal precautions in the discharge of her duties directly contributed to and enabled the escape," Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement.

Some of the charges both women face include malfeasance in office, filing or maintaining false public records and obstruction of justice.

Related

On May 16, 2025, 10 inmates removed a toilet from a wall in the Orleans Parish Justice Center and escaped through a hole behind it. The escape happened at 12:23 a.m. but wasn't discovered until about eight hours later.

All the inmates were eventually captured, with a few captured the same day, but others took longer to find. The last inmate, Derrick Groves, was caught in Atlanta on Oct. 8 after a standoff with police. He has since been convicted of murder.

A maintenance worker at the jail was charged with aiding the escape by turning off the water to the toilet, and two women were charged with helping the escapees.

"We are operating with outdated surveillance, aging infrastructure, blind spots in supervision and critical staffing shortages," Hutson said at a city council hearing after the escape. "These vulnerabilities have been raised repeatedly in our funding requests, and now, the consequences are undeniable."

There were about 1,400 inmates at the jail at the time of the escape, which was more than the guards could handle, Hutson said.

In August, the jail was granted $15 million for improvements, and on Feb. 25, Hutson announced that the jail got a three-year accreditation from the American Correctional Association, which is considered the "gold standard" in corrections, the sheriff's office said.

Hutson only got 17% of the vote in her bid for re-election last year.

She told reporters the jailbreak has "completely overshadowed the hard work."

"It's not going to define me," she said. "That whole story hasn't been told yet, but I hope it is told."

Orleans Parish Sheriff-elect Michelle Woodfork is scheduled to be sworn in on Monday.

Historic May moments through the years

Wreathes are seen amongst the statues at the Korean War Veterans Memorial during Memorial Day weekend in Washington on May 27, 2023. Memorial Day, which honors U.S. military personnel who died while in service, is held on the last Monday of May. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo