Three Florida inmates and one Panama City resident have been charged with helping two convicted killers escape prison using fraudulent documents earlier this year.The two former Franklin County fugitives, Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker, were also charged with escape, conspiracy to commit escape, and forgery.
Officials say an investigation showed Nydeed Nashaddai, a Suwannee inmate charged with conspiracy, taught and assisted Jenkins and another inmate, Jeffrey Forbes, charged with forgery, in escape attempts and Jenkins’ subsequent escape on Sept. 27.
Jenkins then forged release documents for Walker, who escaped Oct. 8. Both men were found in a Panama City hotel room about three weeks later.
Orange County Jail inmate Willie Slater Jr. helped on the outside by ensuring the forged documents were delivered to the Orange County Clerk’s Office. He faces conspiracy, forgery, and tampering charges.
Terrance Goodman of Panama City, a friend of Jenkins, drove Jenkins and Walker to Panama City and rented them a motel room. He was arrested on the street in Panama City this afternoon and charged with harboring a fugitive and two counts of conspiracy to commit escape.
The six suspects, all current or former state inmates, are charged with a combined 37 individual crimes.
At a press conference in Tallahassee on Thursday afternoon announcing the charges, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey said the investigation remains open.
"There could be other people that we will determine assisted in this fraud," he said.
After Jenkins and Charles were discovered officials revealed that the documents they used to escape were created inside the state prison system.
When asked about access to legal documents or technology by inmates following the revelations, Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Michael Crews said his agency is working to install some restrictions.
"We're looking right now at what constitutionally we have to provide," he said, referring to legal documents, adding that the department would "be moving pretty quickly" to remove those resources they are not required to provide.
The complete list of charges are:
- Nydeed Nashaddai, 48, Suwannee Correctional Institution, 2 counts conspiracy to commit escape, 2 counts principal to escape.
- Jeffrey Forbes, 30, Florida State Prison, 1 count escape, forgery, uttering a forgery and conspiracy to commit escape.
- Joseph Jenkins, 34, Union Correctional Institution, escape, principle to escape, 2 counts conspiracy to commit escape, 6 counts forgery, 6 counts uttering a forgery.
- Charles Walker, 35, Florida State Prison, 1 count escape.
- Willie Slater Jr., 36, Orange County Jail, 2 counts principal to escape, 2 counts conspiracy to commit escape, 4 counts uttering a forgery, 1 count tampering.
- Terrance Goodman, 37, Panama City, Fla., 1 count harboring a fugitive, 2 counts conspiracy to commit escape.
You can follow Patrick Donges on Twitter @patrickhdonges.
