Crime & Justice

Accused Maintenance Worker Says New Orleans Jailbreak Was Not an Inside Job

BATHROOM BREAK

A lawyer for Sterling Williams told a court the maintenance worker was simply doing his job.

CCTV video shows inmates running through the loading dock at the Orleans Parish Justice Center, in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., May 16, 2025
ORLEANS PARISH SHERIFF'S OFFICE/via REUTERS

The maintenance worker at the centre of a New Orleans jailbreak has insisted he had no knowledge of the crime being committed despite accusations that he helped aid the escape. Last Friday, 10 men escaped from the Orleans Justice Centre after breaking through a hole behind a toilet, which had been shut off by the worker, Sterling Williams. Five men remain on the run in what is being called one of the largest jail breaks in recent U.S history, according to the Associated Press. An attorney representing Williams has told a court it was not an inside job, rather just a worker doing his job. Williams has been charged with 10 counts of principal to simple escape and one count of malfeasance in office. “He was not aware that there was going to be an escape,” attorney Michael Kennedy said. “He was not conspiring with them. He had no knowledge that he was being used.” Kennedy added: This was clearly all part of an orchestrated plan.” Williams “was nothing more than the tool they used to turn off the water which they knew would have to happen after clogging the toilet.”

Read it at The Associated Press

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