Mistakenly Released Louisiana Convict Caught In Atlanta

Mistakenly Released Louisiana Convict Caught
Benjuiel Johnson was apprehended Friday after mistakenly being released from a Louisiana prison. Photo courtesy Louisiana Department of Corrections

ATLANTA, Oct. 2 (UPI) — Law enforcement on Friday arrested Benjuiel Johnson in Atlanta after the convicted killer was mistakenly released from a Louisiana prison last week.

Johnson, 32, was found in a suburban Atlanta motel by the U.S. Marshals Service.

He was serving a 40-year sentence after pleading guilty to manslaughter and illegal possession of a firearm in the 2010 shooting of a man.

An error in communication and missing paperwork led to his mistaken early release from the Dixon Correctional Institute in Jackson, La. Johnson’s manslaughter conviction did not appear on his records, and he was released Sept. 23.

But that wasn’t the only time Johnson was released from incarceration last week.

After his release from Dixon, he was picked up on an outstanding warrant for battery of a corrections officer. He posted $10,000 bond and was let go back officials at the East Feliciana Parish Detention Center.

“It was a staff error; I’m not even going to try and excuse it,” Pam Laborde, a Department of Corrections spokeswoman, said. “It should have been caught, simple as that.”

Police were unaware Johnson had been released until it was called to their attention.

“We got a call Monday from someone saying they saw him and asking us why he was free,” Iberville Parish, La., Sheriff Brett Stassi said.

Officials said the person at the Dixon facility responsible for the error will face disciplinary charges.

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