New Orleans sheriff indicted over 2025 jailbreak of 10 inmates
USA Today • • general
Key Points:
- Nearly a year after 10 inmates escaped a New Orleans jail through a hole in the wall, Sheriff Susan Hutson has been indicted on 30 felony counts including criminal corruption and obstruction related to the jailbreak.
- The inmates escaped on May 16, 2025, after breaching a wall in a jail cell, triggering a costly multi-state manhunt that lasted several months until the last escapee was recaptured in October 2025.
- Hutson faces charges including malfeasance in office, conspiracy, filing false records, and obstruction of justice; bond was set at $300,000.
- Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office CFO Bianka Brown was also indicted on similar charges, and others connected to the escape, including jail staff and associates of escapees, have been prosecuted.
- Attorney General Liz Murrill expressed confidence in incoming Sheriff Michelle Woodfork to implement necessary reforms and improve jail operations following Hutson's term ending May 4.
