Three Convicted in Plot to Storm Courtroom, Free Indiana Inmate
A jury Saturday convicted three of nine defendants of conspiring to storm a courtroom to free an Indiana State Reformatory inmate.
The Madison Superior Court jury found the prisoner, Roger A. Jaske, 33, and Richard D. Alery, 28, of Anoka, Minn., and Paul A. Buffington, 19, of Cuyahoga Falls, N.Y., guilty of conspiracy. Three defendants were acquitted of conspiracy but convicted of carrying handguns without permits. Three others were found innocent of all charges.
Jaske reportedly devised a plan for heavily armed men to burst into Madison County Circuit Court during his trial for manslaughter in the death of another inmate. They were to handcuff a police guard and take women hostages.
Defense lawyers argued that the men came to Anderson because they were promised high pay and adventure, and did not realize that they were being drawn into an escape plot. Authorities said that an advertisement in a military magazine had promised $10,000, double the expenses and other “mercenary” jobs in the future.
Police arrested the eight men on March 2 after they began gathering at a local motel. A Sept. 2 date was set for sentencing.
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