2 inmates who broke out of NJ jail using ‘Shawshank’ ploy face up to 5 years on escape charges
By APWednesday, May 6, 2009
2 inmates in NJ ‘Shawshank’ escape plead guilty
ELIZABETH, N.J. — Two men whose daring breakout from a New Jersey jail evoked comparisons to the movie “The Shawshank Redemption” have pleaded guilty to escape charges.
Otis Blunt and Jose Espinosa entered their pleas Tuesday in Superior Court in Elizabeth. They each face up to five years in prison.
The pair escaped from the Union County Jail in December 2007 by squeezing through a hole they’d dug in a cinder block cell wall and covered with a pinup photo, a ploy depicted in the Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman movie from 1994.
They were caught nearly a month later — Espinosa in Elizabeth, Blunt in Mexico City.
Blunt was acquitted last week of the robbery charge for which he’d been jailed. Espinosa is serving a 17-year term for aggravated manslaughter.
Information from: The Star-Ledger, www.nj.com/starledger
