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Attorney: Teen accused in jailbreak plot was aiding deputies

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By SARAH HOYE

shoye@tampatrib.com

Published: July 17, 2009

The attorney for one of the five teens charged with trying to bust out of jail and kill a deputy along the way said his client was an informant and does not deserve to be charged with conspiracy to commit murder.

Bryant Camareno represents 17-year-old Eric Munoz, who investigators say was recruited to make weapons. Camareno said he is shocked and upset by the charges against his client.

"The charges against Mr. Munoz are based solely on the word of a jailhouse informant. My client was a trusty of the jail, and he was the one that cooperated with the deputies when it was discovered that the other inmates were plotting an escape," Camareno said. "They thanked him for his help."

Hillsborough County Sheriff's Col. Jim Previtera said it's his understanding that investigators tried speaking with Munoz but that the teen's attorney declined to let an interview be conducted.

"I am confident that our investigators have covered every detail of this case and arrived at the proper conclusion," Previtera said. "The court system will now determine the culpability of the individuals charged."

Camareno said that when detectives reached out to him about the case, he was en route to Orlando. He said he asked a detective whether the meeting could be scheduled for another date, and he said the detective wanted him to return immediately. Camareno said he could not do that because he had to go to court. That was the extent of his conversation with investigators, he said.

Munoz earned the trust of the jail and was well-liked, Camareno said. When asked by jail deputies about the razors found in his dorm, he admitted what they were for.

"He had one foot out the door. That's why I am outraged," Camareno said. "He had nothing to gain by participating in this."

Munoz told investigators that fellow inmates were planning to escape by overflowing the toilets and cutting themselves with the razors, and then make a run for it during the commotion, Camareno said.

"He recognizes right from wrong; he could have kept his mouth shut, but he didn't," Camareno said. "He's not heartless and cruel."

Munoz will plead not guilty to the charges against him, which also include conspiracy to escape from confinement and introduction of contraband to a detention facility. Munoz, identified by deputies as a Latin Life gang member, was in jail on non-gang-related charges, Camareno said.

The inmates would have killed a deputy in mid-March, taken his keys and fled Orient Road Jail through a recreation yard evacuation door, Hillsborough County deputies said Thursday. The inmates had made a knife with razor blades they had stolen over time from the jail.

"Their intent was to basically lure the deputy into the cell and to wrestle him to the ground and to slash his neck," Previtera said Thursday.

An investigation by deputies led to the confiscation of several razor blades. Deputies also found small pieces of wire they think could have been used to "defeat locks in the pod."

Deputies found out about the teens' plot on March 15. Detectives were immediately called in, the juvenile pods were placed on lockdown and the inmates were held in a recreation yard while deputies searched the cells. At the time of the search, the teens "were very close to executing the plan," Previtera said.

The sheriff's office isn't releasing the name of the deputy they say the teens had planned to kill.

Although disappointed in the charges brought against his client, Camareno said he has faith in the Attorney General's Office.

Munoz "was a substantial part of how they found out about the plan," Camareno said.

Tribune reporter Josh Poltilove contributed to this report. Reporter Sarah Hoye can be reached at (813) 259-7832.

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