Last night, we showed you the first 7 escapees who were arraigned in Magistrate's Court and sent right back to the very same prison they broke out of on Monday. Well, this morning, the GSU took 6 more of the escapees who were recaptured yesterday to court.
Today's defendants included Deon White, Phillip Bowen, Victor Galeano, Darren Vasquez, Deandre Guiffarro, and Joel Sierra. They were all arraigned before Senior Magistrate Aretha Ford.
Deon White, Deandre Guifarro, and Phillip Bowen all pleaded guilty to the charge of escaping prison, and they were sentenced to 1 year in prison, which is to run concurrently to any other sentence they were serving. Darren Vasquez also pleaded guilty to escaping from prison, and he was sentenced to 1 year in prison, which runs consecutively to another sentence he was serving before he escaped.
Victor Galeano pleaded not guilty to his charge of escape, and he was remanded to prison until December 16th, 2020, his next court date.
Finally, Joel Sierra, the alleged co-ring leader, was arraigned on the charges of escape from prison and aggravated assault, which he allegedly committed against a prison officer during the escape from the prison compound. Interestingly, he has pleaded not guilty, and retained attorney Ronell Gonzalez to represent him for these offenses.
After the arraignment of the 6 men, we got a chance to speak with Gonzalez who told us in an interview that Sierra rejects the narrative that he played a leading role in the prison break. Here's what Gonzalez told us on his behalf:
Ronell Gonzalez - Attorney for Joel Sierra
"Today, Mr. Sierra was pleaded before the Magistrate for 2 offenses. He was charged with the offense of escape from prison, and he was also charged with the offense of aggravated assault, and of course, this allegedly against one of the prison officers."
Reporter
"What plea did he take?"
Ronell Gonzalez
"He pled not guilty to both offenses. I want to bring the media's attention to the fact that Mr. Sierra, as you all have been hearing for a while now, has branded one of those that is the mastermind behind this entire escape. Upon speaking to my client today, I would want to say that a lot of new information has come to light. Of course, I will hold them confidential at this time. But, I can say that it is, in essence, a greater plot, a bigger plot than [what] just meets the eye. We've heard a lot of talk about the escape, in general, But, I want to say that there is deeper information as it leads to that particular escape."
"Very similar to the client I represented yesterday, he has not accepted any fault or any culpability on behalf of this charge. He's saying there was some kind of - as well - duress that was on him to act. I should mention that Mr. Joel Sierra, contrary to a lot of talking that is being heard, was on remand, at the time of the escape, for a kept firearm offense. Therefore, he was a remanded prisoner. He's had been in prison, he's saying, for about 3 months now. And under law, he was to serve 90 days before he was eligible for bail in the Magistrate Court level. So, I am of the opinion that perhaps on his next visit to court, he would have been granted bail, or perhaps offered bail. It is puzzling to me why a person who is about to get bail anytime soon would go and plot an entire escape with some 20-plus prisoners."
Joel Sierra's not guilty plea was accepted by the senior magistrate, and he was remanded into custody until December 16th, 2020, his next court date.
