Inmates Attempt to Escape from Correctional Center

Sep 14 2007 8:03AM
KXMCTV Minot

Two correctional officers at the North Central Correctional and Rehabilitation Center in Rugby have been arrested for helping three federal inmates attempt to escape.

Officials with the center say Becky Willison and Keri Brandt smuggled saw blades into the facility for the inmates.

Those inmates are brothers Gabriel and Ramon Martinez and Michael Wright.

The Martinez brothers are awaiting a trial on charges of murder and conspiracy in an international drug distribution ring.

Wright had reached a plea agreement on charges that include possession of stolen property.

Officials say the blades were found yesterday during a search of the inmates' cells and even though there was some damage to the window in one of the cells the window and frame were secure and the inmates never made it outside of the facility.

Willison and Brandt are being held at the Lake Region Correctional Center and are awaiting a bond hearing.

The newly constructed NCCRC in Rugby houses inmates for different agencies including the state Department of Corrections, the US Marshal Service, Border Patrol and US Probation.

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