Last week, a Louisiana prison accidentally released a convicted killer from their custody because of a glitch in the system. Benjueil Johnson a 32 year-old man in the middle of serving a 40-year sentence, for manslaughter, now remains at large.
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Officials from the Dixon Correctional Institute were completely unaware of their mistake until Johnson was recognized by someone on the street who called the Sheriff’s Office to found out why he was released.
According to a DOC spokesperson, Johnson had already been in custody when he was convicted of manslaughter for the shooting death of 31 year-old Cordies Gale. The DOC had plans for Johnson to continue to serve his 40 year sentence at the Dixon Correctional Instate, however no one ever relayed the information to the state prison. The spokesperson said, “Whenever he was convicted [in Iberville] in 2013, that information never came to us,” they continued, “So, last week, when he finished an early release program he was involved with related to his previous charges, we started the release process.”
They also stressed that there will be disciplinary action taken out on the employee responsible for his release. According to the DOC, “On the rap sheet, there was information on there that should have prompted the records staff at DCI who was working on his case to at least call Iberville and say, ‘Hey I see something on it, I’m not sure what’s going on, I don’t have any paperwork on a conviction, but there may be something here, can you tell me what it’s about?’ ”
Johnson’s mother now fears for his life, she told a local newspaper, “It’s not his fault, it’s not his fault. He got released,” she continued, “You told him he was no longer your property, he bonded out, and now you’re hunting him like a dog, like he escaped from prison or something. But no he didn’t escape. You let him go. You all opened the doors and let him out of there.”
Source People
