FDLE arrests 6 in inmate escape scheme

Florida Department of Corrections photos of Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey on Thursday announced the arrests of six suspects in connection with two murderers who used forged documents to get out of prison.

The suspects, all current and former Department of Corrections inmates, are charged with a combined 37 individual crimes.

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They suspects and their charges are as follows:

  • Nydeed Nashaddai, 48, Suwannee Correctional Institution, two counts of conspiracy to commit escape, two counts of principal to escape.
  • Jeffrey Forbes, 30, Florida State Prison, one count of escape, forgery, uttering a forgery and conspiracy to commit escape.
  • Joseph Jenkins, 34, Union Correctional Institution, escape, principle to escape, two counts conspiracy to commit escape, six counts of forgery, six counts of uttering a forgery.
  • Charles Walker, 35, Florida State Prison, one count of escape.
  • Willie Slater Jr., 36, Orange County Jail, two counts of principal to escape, two counts of conspiracy to commit escape, four counts of uttering a forgery, one count of tampering.
  • Terrance Goodman, 37, Panama City, one count of harboring a fugitive, two counts of conspiracy to commit escape.

"FDLE investigators believe Nashaddai was the engineer of the scheme," Bailey said. "He was the first to use it before passing his knowledge onto his fellow inmates."

The investigation shows Nashaddai taught and assisted Jenkins and Forbes in their escape attempts and Jenkins' subsequent escape in September, according to FDLE. Investigators said Jenkins forged release documents for Walker, who escaped in October.

Former inmate Slater helped on the outside ensuring the forged documents were delivered to the Orange County Clerk's Office, investigators said.

They said Goodman, a friend of Jenkins, drove Jenkins and Walker to Panama City and rented them a motel room.

Jenkins and Walker were serving life sentences for murder from Orange County. Both escaped from Franklin Correctional Institution after the Department of Corrections received fraudulent release documents from the Orange County Clerk of Court. Jenkins escaped on Sept. 27 and Walker escaped on Oct. 8.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, along with the Bay County Sheriff's Office, Panama City Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service Task Force arrested both inmates on Oct. 19 at Coconut Grove Motor Inn in Panama City Beach.