Lawyer says worker accused of helping New Orleans jailbreak was unclogging toilet, not aiding escape

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A worker charged with aiding the New Orleans jailbreak by 10 prisoners shut off water to unclog a toilet, not to allow the men to cut the pipe to create an opening for their escape, the employee’s lawyer told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Sterling Williams, a 33-year-old maintenance worker at the jail, was arrested Tuesday in connection with the jailbreak.

Authorities previously said that Williams had been instructed by one of the inmates to turn off the water to a toilet. Behind the toilet was a hole that 10 men slipped through in Friday’s escape. Five remained at large Wednesday.

“It would seem obvious to me that filling up the toilet, clogging the toilet, was a portion of the escapee’s plan,” attorney Michael Kennedy said. “They would know that whoever the maintenance person was would have to turn off the water … because it was overflowing into the tier.”

Williams told law enforcement during an interview that an inmate had threatened to “shank” him if he did not turn off the water, authorities said.

Williams had plenty of opportunity to not only report the threat but also the escape plan, authorities said. They asserted that because Williams turned the water off, the inmates were “able to successfully make good” on their escape.

Kennedy told the AP that Williams was called to fix a toilet. He arrived to find it clogged and overflowing and shut off the water, Kennedy said.

“This was clearly all part of an orchestrated plan,” Kennedy said. “He was nothing more than the tool they used to turn off the water which they knew would have to happen after clogging the toilet.”

Kennedy said the cell with the clogged toilet was for disabled inmates and should never have been in use. “No one should have been in this cell to begin with,” he said. “This cell should have been locked down. It is for handicapped inmates.”

Kennedy addressed authorities’ statements that his client was threatened into helping the escape.

“He was not aware that there was going to be an escape,” Kennedy said. “He was not conspiring with them. He had no knowledge that he was being used.”

Antoine Massey, who approached Williams and said he would “shank” him as he was doing his maintenance work, was “just talking to talk” and not intimidating the plumber, Kennedy said.

“Everyone seems to have leaped on that, saying he was acting out of fear. No,” Kennedy said. “Yes, someone said they would shank him. They didn’t say it in a particularly threatening manner. They said it more as an aside.”

Kennedy said he was only able to meet with Williams for around 30 minutes. He did not ask Williams whether he had finished unclogging the toilet, whether he turned the water back on, or how long he was inside the cell.

Williams did not know the name of the deputy who told him to fix the clogged toilet, Kennedy said.

Williams is worried about his safety and his future, his lawyer said. He is being held in a different facility in a separate parish.

“He’s in jail as an inmate versus an employee for the first time,” Kennedy said. “His former employer of five years is clearly throwing him under the bus.”

“He’s worried about everything. It’d be crazy not to be,” Kennedy added.

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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.