Growing number of New Orleans fugitives’ friends and family arrested for aiding in escape

NEW ORLEANS — The 10 men who escaped from a New Orleans jail in mid-May by cutting out a hole behind a toilet received help from at least 15 people, many of them friends and family who provided food, cash, transport and shelter, according to court documents.

Records reviewed by the Associated Press show how some of the fugitives received aid before and after their escape — including from a number of people named in police reports but not yet facing charges.

A former jail employee is accused of driving escapee Lenton Vanburen to a relative’s home and helping him FaceTime family the day of the escape, while another friend later offered him a hiding place in a vacant apartment he had been hired to repaint.

Others sent money via apps, lied to authorities during interrogation and messaged or called the fugitives, police say. Some are now held on bonds $1 million or higher and most face the felony charge of accessory after the fact.

In a city with an entrenched mistrust of the criminal justice system, authorities on Thursday raised the reward to $50,000 per fugitive. They stressed that friends and family are key to capturing the two remaining escapees, convicted murderer Derrick Groves and Antoine Massey, who faces kidnapping and rape charges.

“We understand that some of you might be reporting a friend, a loved one, a relative and albeit not easy, it is critical to your safety and the safety of the public that you report them,” said Jonathan Tapp, special agent in charge of FBI New Orleans.

After the audacious escape in the early hours of May 16, a woman who police described as “associated” with Groves “picked up” and transported escapee Vanburen to a relative’s residence, the documents show.

En route, she video-called Vanburen’s sisters, who came to meet him.

This woman — who has not been charged with aiding in the escape — shares the same name as a former Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office employee, according to court records. In 2023, that employee was arrested on suspicion of bringing a folding knife and a bag of Cheetos containing tobacco and marijuana into the jail.

The charges were dropped in part due to the woman’s lack of criminal history and she “successfully completed” a pretrial diversion program, the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office told the Associated Press. The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office did not respond to request for comment.

In a text message to an AP reporter, the woman denied bringing in contraband or aiding fugitives.

Separately, authorities arrested a jail plumber they say helped the men escape, but his attorney maintains he was just trying to unclog a toilet.

Several escapees, including Massey, relied on internet phone services to communicate with accomplices and “avoid detection” by not leaving a trail of cellular signals, police reports say.

Escapee Corey Boyd used an internet phone service to message several contacts seeking money and access to their iCloud accounts, threatening to kill one person if they did not comply, court records show.

One of the women accused of helping Massey and described by police as his “paramour” also suffered from years of physical abuse from him, court records show.

The woman, who had previously filed a protective order against Massey after he attempted to strangle her, was aware of his planned escape and later misled authorities, police say.

She exchanged messages with Massey’s 31-year-old sister saying they hoped he “never gets caught.”

Authorities staked out the New Orleans home of Massey’s sister, but a search six days after the escape turned up empty-handed. Police learned Massey had been inside the home before the raid and altered and deleted evidence on his sister’s phone.

At least seven of the people facing felony charges for aiding the fugitives have ties to Vanburen, according to authorities.

After alerting two of his sisters by prison phone in the hours before his escape, he instructed they contact “my girl” and provide her with a “clean phone” so the two could communicate.

The woman identified by police as Vanburen’s love interest told the Associated Press she never received the phone and denied involvement in the escape plans.

Vanburen’s sisters met up with him the night of his escape at a family member’s residence where he was able to shower, change clothes and was given toiletries. Another family member later reportedly took him to a relative’s home in Mississippi.

Vanburen was ultimately captured in Baton Rouge, La., on Monday and two men arrested days later were accused of helping him find shelter in a hotel — paid for in cash — and an apartment undergoing renovation.

Brook writes for the Associated Press.