The four detainees who escaped an immigrant jail in Newark in June have been caught and face up to a year in prison and $100,000 fines each. (Photo by New Jersey Monitor)
The four detainees who escaped an immigrant jail in Newark earlier this summer have been caught and now face up to a year imprisonment and $100,000 fines each, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for New Jersey announced Friday.
The last of the escapees, Andres Felipe Pineda Mogollon, 25, of Colombia, appeared in federal court on Aug. 18, the office announced.
Mogollon, along with Franklin Norberto Bautista Reyes, 20, of Honduras; Joan Sebastian Castaneda Lozada, 18, of Colombia; and Joel Enrrique Sandoval-Lopez, 22, of Honduras, escaped Delaney Hall in Newark on June 12 by busting through a second-story aluminum wall, dropping mattresses through the opening to soften their landing, and hurdling jail fences by using bed sheets to cover the barbed wire.
The four were apprehended within a week of their escape — Mogollon in Los Angeles on July 17, and the other three in New Jersey on June 15 and 16, according to the office.
The 1,100-bed immigrant jail — the first to open under President Donald Trump’s second term — is owned and operated by the private prison company Geo Group under a 15-year contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
It has drawn protests since it opened in May, with New Jersey’s two senators saying the escape proved the facility is in “shoddy” shape and should be evacuated.
It was also the site of a May 9 scuffle between visiting politicians and jail security that fueled complaints that acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba is using her position to attack political foes. During that fracas, officers arrested Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Habba later secured an indictment of Rep. LaMonica McIver, after accusing her of assaulting officers outside the jail. Baraka and McIver are Democrats.
Baraka’s charges were quickly dropped, while McIver’s case remains ongoing.
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