Gov. Jeff Landry said he called for an audit of the Orleans Correctional Facility to comply with the “Basic Prison Guidelines.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said on May 18 that it increased its pay for information that led to massive prisoner arrests after fleeing New Orleans prison.
FBI special agent Jonathan Trapp said at a press conference on Sunday that the FBI doubled the rewards for their place of residence from $5,000 where they were, saying that escaped inmates are likely to receive support from public members to avoid arrests.
FBI’s compensation is added to the $5,000 per inmate provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) plus the $2,000 per inmate provided by Crimestoppers.
During a press conference, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said he had audited the Orleans Correctional Facility to comply with the “Basic Prison Guidelines” and directed the Department of Corrections (DOC) to remove all DOC inmates currently held at the facility.
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Landry also said he would issue an executive order directing state inspectors to issue inventory from the sheriff for all detainees in the House of Trials and waiting sentences.
The governor specifically cited the case of Derrick Groves, one of the fleeing inmates awaiting sentence, pleading guilty to manslaughter in October 2024 and arriving at the verdict.
Landry said that if he had already been sentenced by the court system, Groves would not have been able to escape New Orleans prison.
“My statistics show that this massive jailbreak could be the biggest jailbreak in national history, but it should never happen. The public deserves to know who, what, and how it happened,” he said.
Laundry added that Louisiana Attorney General Liz Maryll’s office will lead the investigation into the case.
According to Louisiana State Police, all three have been moved to a safe facility, requiring saliva hoods during transport after showing hostile behavior.
Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
