10 inmates escaped from the jail, according to authorities. (Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office / WVUE)
A grand jury on Wednesday indicted Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson for the 2025 jailbreak that sent law enforcement on a monthslong hunt for 10 escaped inmates.
Hutson is not accused of helping the inmates escape, but she is accused of poor management of the jail that led to the escape.
Dig deeper:
The 30-count indictment charges Hutson with malfeasance, obstruction of justice and falsifying public records.
What they're saying:
"While Sheriff Hutson did not personally open the doors of the jail for the escapees, her refusal to comply with basic legal requirements and to take even minimal precautions in the discharge of her duties directly contributed to and enabled the escape," Attorney General Liz Murrill said in a statement.
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Ninth escaped inmate captured in New Orleans, LA
Antoine Massey was recaptured on Friday after escaping from the Orleans Parish Correctional Facility in May, Louisiana State Police announced on Facebook. Massey is the ninth escapee to be recaptured out of 10.
New Orleans jailbreak
The backstory:
In May 2025, 10 inmates at the New Orleans jail managed to yank open a faulty cell door, squeeze through a hole behind a toilet, scale a barbed-wire fence and vanish into the night.
It was one of the largest jailbreaks in recent U.S. history.
The men, some of whom are charged with murder and other violent crimes, fled while the one guard assigned to their cell pod was away getting food, authorities said.
Jail staff didn’t notice the men were missing until 8:30 a.m. during a routine headcount, more than seven hours after the escape.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from a news release from the Louisiana attorney general's website, The Associated Press and previous reporting by FOX Local. This story was reported from San Jose.