Crime · New Orleans, LA
New Orleans Jail Worker Sentenced to 2.5 Years for Enabling 10-Inmate Escape
Sterling Williams, 34, a custodian at a New Orleans jail, was sentenced Thursday to 2.5 years in prison (with 2.5 years suspended) and three years of probation after pleading guilty to one count of malfeasance in office. In May 2025, Williams shut off water in a cell, allowing 10 inmates to remove a toilet, crawl through a wall gap, and scale a fence out of the jail. All 10 escapees were eventually captured; one convicted murderer remained at large for five months before being found hiding under a house in Atlanta. At least 14 additional people were arrested on suspicion of aiding the escape. Separately, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson and CFO Bianka Brown face indictments on malfeasance, obstruction, and falsification charges that prosecutors say stem from jail mismanagement; both have pleaded not guilty.