Nearly a year after 10 inmates escaped a New Orleans jail by ripping a toilet out of a wall, a special grand jury has indicted the sheriff on criminal corruption and obstruction charges.
Attorney General Liz Murrill announced that New Orleans Sheriff Susan Hutson, who finishes her term as sheriff on May 4, was indicted on 30 counts.
"While Sheriff Hutson did not personally open the doors of the jail for the escapees, her refusal to comply with basic legal requirements and to take even minimal precautions in the discharge of her duties directly contributed to and enabled the escape," Murrill said.
2025: New Orleans and its terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year
The inmates busted out of the Orleans Parish Prison on May 16, 2025, breaching a wall in a jail cell after ripping away a toilet-sink unit and slipping out onto a loading dock, scaling a wall and disappearing. The escapes led authorities on a hunt that spanned multiple states and lasted for several months. The last inmate, convicted murderer Derrick Groves, was not recaptured until October 2025.
