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Teens accused of plot to kill jailer, escape

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By JOSH POLTILOVE

jpoltilove@tampatrib.com

Published: July 17, 2009

TAMPA - Four were gang members. Two faced murder-related charges. All wanted to get out of the Orient Road Jail and were willing to let a deputy die in the process.

That's the scenario Hillsborough County deputies laid out Thursday for what they say is a foiled escape plan by five teenage inmates.

If the plan had worked, deputies say, the inmates would have killed a deputy one day in mid-March, taken his keys and fled Orient Road Jail through a recreation yard evacuation door. 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," said sheriff's Col. Jim Previtera.

The five teens have been charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder of a deputy and conspiracy to escape jail.

The teens were more than capable of pulling off that part of the plan, Previtera said, but the chances of escaping the jail were slim.

"There are multiple layers of security," Previtera said.

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.

Since the plan was foiled, the jail has implemented stricter measures:

•All juvenile inmates charged as adults are now housed at Falkenburg Road Jail on constant lockdown.

•There are now two deputies - instead of one - who oversee the juvenile pods. In the past, there was one deputy for 48 juvenile inmates.

•Razors are no longer distributed to the general population. Inmates use electric hair clippers from jail-issued barber kits to shave. Inmates get to shave with razors only before a court appearance.

Previtera said he does not think the plan would have worked if the teens had been able to follow through. The teens believed that after reaching the recreation yard, they would only have to get through a single fence, but they actually would have had to deal with two fences topped with razor wire, he said.

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

Arrested were:

•Ronald Ball, 17. Previtera calls him the ringleader.

•Eric Munoz, 17. Investigators say he was recruited to make weapons.

•Luis Juarez, 16. Deputies say he had the weapon in his possession. Previtera said Juarez was the one who was going to slice the deputy's neck. He had been in jail on a charge of attempted first-degree murder.

•Devon Serrano, 17. Investigators say he provided the weapon to Juarez.

•Esteban Rivera, 17. He already was awaiting trial on first-degree murder charge.

All five were charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree and conspiracy to escape from confinement. Juarez and Munoz also were charged with introduction of contraband into a detention facility.

Deputies say Ball and Rivera recruited Juarez to kill the deputy.

"He bragged to our investigators about his willingness and his intent to kill a deputy," Previtera said.

Tribune reporter Ray Reyes and News Channel 8 reporter Peter Bernard contributed to this report. Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691.

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