New Orleans Jail Worker Who Allegedly Helped 10 Inmates Escape Was Just ‘Doing His Job,’ Lawyer Says

Sterling Williams

New Orleans Jail Worker Who Allegedly Helped 10 Inmates Escape Was Just ‘Doing His Job,’ Lawyer Says

Sterling Williams, a maintenance worker at the Orleans Parish jail, was arrested after 10 inmates escaped through a hole behind a toilet he was called to fix. Authorities say an inmate told him to shut off the water, helping the plan succeed… but his lawyer insists Williams had no idea what was going on.

Attorney Michael Kennedy told the AP,

“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.”

 

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Kennedy also dismissed claims that Williams was threatened when asked to turn off the water, saying the inmate who said he’d “shank” him wasn’t serious:

“They didn’t say it in a particularly threatening manner. They said it more as an aside.”

Williams now faces 10 counts of principal to simple escape and one count of malfeasance in office. He’s being held in another parish.

“The sheriff’s office is trying to use him as a scapegoat to minimize their own embarrassment,” Kennedy said. “He did nothing more than the job they pay him to do.”

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