Evers, Senate Panel Satisfied After Fradulent Document Inmate Escape

November 5, 2013

.After the high-profile releases of two convicted murderers who used fraudulent documents to walk out of prison, the members of a Senate panel on Monday said they were satisfied with the progress made by law-enforcement and court-system officials toward a long-term solution.

“Everybody is doing the best job they can under the circumstances,” said Senate Criminal Justice Chairman Greg Evers, R-Baker. Evers represents the North Escambia area.

Authorities have been investigating the recent releases of Charles Walker and Joseph Jenkins from Franklin Correctional Institution. The two men, who were later caught in Panama City, were released because of bogus court paperwork that indicated their sentences had been reduced.

The state expects to begin using a “secure e-system” in February 2014 to transmit court orders so as to close the door on similar attempts in the future.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey told lawmakers his agency is still investigating how the inmates were able to walk out of the prison.

“To date we have found nothing to indicate any criminal actions by anyone inside Franklin Correctional or the clerk’s office in Orange County,” Bailey said. “However, without a doubt … there was a fraud ring going on among a group of inmates at Franklin CI.”

Authorities know of five other attempted escapes using the same method of faked documents, including two that were in process when discovered. One of the prior attempts was by Jenkins. The attempts occurred at the Franklin Correctional and Gulf Correctional institutions and the Pinellas County Jail.

Bailey said three of FDLE’s six crime labs are involved in the case. The agency is using DNA testing on the documents and examining thousands of electronic messages to and from Jenkins and Walker.

“This is just the beginning,” he said. “We have other arrests on the horizon.”

Department of Corrections Secretary Michael Crews told lawmakers he had brought 40 staffers to Tallahassee to review 9,400 court orders, with 5,400 completed as of Monday’s meeting.

“At this point, we’ve not had any others that have risen to the level that Jenkins and Walker did,” Crews said.

According to Lee Adams, chief of the department’s Bureau of Admission and Release, the agency had examined records dating back to Jan. 1, 2010, without finding any that were fraudulent.

Bailey commended Crews and Ninth Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Belvin Perry, Jr., for the steps they’ve taken to prevent further fraudulent releases.

Last month Perry issued an order changing procedures for criminal-court documents to try to prevent any other inmates from making similar escapes.

The forged documents used by Walker and Jenkins included the seal of the Orange County clerk of court’s office and signatures of circuit officials, including Perry and Orange County State Attorney Jeffrey Ashton.

Ashton also attended Monday’s committee meeting, telling lawmakers, “It might be helpful if the judge’s signature was not in the public domain.”

Because Perry and Ashton gained national fame through the 2011 Casey Anthony murder trial, their signatures have been readily available online.

The “secure e-system” will allow authorities to check an order with a judge “if it changes the sentences or looks fishy for some reason,” Ashton said after the meeting. “It’s sort of interrupting the bureaucracy to actually look at something and make sure it’s accurate and real.”

According to Karen Rushing, representing the Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers, the “secure e-system” was already funded and being implemented when Walker and Jenkins escaped.

“We’re always going to be subject to the ingenuity of criminals,” said Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs.

by Margie Menzel, The News Service of Florida

Comments

3 Responses to “Evers, Senate Panel Satisfied After Fradulent Document Inmate Escape”

  1. T.J. on November 8th, 2013 6:38 pm

    The prisons got together with Sesame street and they had puppet shows for the inmates.

  2. jesse on November 7th, 2013 7:23 pm

    T.J.,
    What does Sesame street have to do with this?

  3. T.J. on November 6th, 2013 6:30 pm

    Maybe if the Department of Corrections was placing their focus on what we pay them to do, keep the bad guys locked up, rather than focusing on Sesame street and flower gardening, the inmates would not have been able to walk out.

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