Ten D.C. Jail employees, including one supervisor, were fired Wednesday for their roles in the brazen June 3 escape of two inmates, and several eventually could be indicted for their part in the jail break.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office continues to investigate the 10 people, mostly guards, to determine “whether or not there was any aiding and abetting from a criminal perspective,” Devon Brown, director of the Department of Corrections, said Wednesday.
In the meantime, the administrative report finished Tuesday was damning enough to demand the employees’ immediate termination.
“As a result of the administrative review, 11 individuals within the jail were placed on paid administrative leave,” City Administrator Robert Bobb said during a news conference at City Hall.
“Now that the report has been completed … we are going to terminate 10 individuals who were either actively or involved in cooperating with those who broke out of the District jail.”
The 11th person was exonerated, Bobb said.
Bobb and Brown declined to name the fired employees, citing the ongoing criminal inquiry.
The employees will have the right to appeal.
“The majority were correctionalofficers but there were also civilians and at least one high-level official who will be terminated,” Brown said.
The two declined to say whether it appears the staff was negligent, incompetent or criminal in allowing Ricardo Jones and Joseph Leaks to escape.
The men, who were awaiting trial on murder-related charges, broke through the warden’s office window around 10 a.m. June 3 and headed for the nearby Stadium-Armory Metro station, where they caught a shuttle bus to the Minnesota Avenue Station and into a residential area.
Sources familiar with the investigation say Jones and Leaks were wearing jail guards’ uniforms left for them under the liner of a garbage can in the female guards’ locker room.
“We are investigating the circumstances that led to the D.C. jail break and we will follow the evidence where ever it leads,” said Channing Phillips, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for D.C.
The inmates were caught separately in less than two days by the U.S. Marshals Service.
Changes at the D.C. Jail
» Reviewed how inmates are classified relative to their security threat
» Revamped system for moving inmates through the jail
» Upgraded infrastructure, including a new siren and increased fencing and razor wire
Source: Devon Brown, Department of Corrections
