Inmate who fled Texas prison recaptured

updated 6:36 p.m. ET Oct. 23, 2006

BROWNSVILLE, Texas - One of the five illegal immigrants who escaped from a privately run South Texas jail along with a former police officer surrendered to federal agents at a border checkpoint, officials said Monday.

Joel Armando Mata-Castro, a 31-year-old Mexican citizen, walked up to the checkpoint Sunday night and identified himself to Customs and Border Protection officers, CBP spokesman Felix Garza said.

“As I understand it, there were no problems,” Garza said. “He was cooperative.”

Mata-Castro was being held at the Cameron County jail Monday.

So far, he is the only inmate captured since the group escaped from the East Hidalgo Detention Center in La Villa on Sept. 19. The group had overpowered a guard with a homemade knife. Authorities have said they suspected the men had crossed the border, about 20 miles away, into Mexico.

The five illegal immigrants are alleged members of the violent drug gang Raza Unida. Former McAllen police officer Francisco Meza-Rojas was two weeks away from trial on federal drug-trafficking charges that could bring a 40-year prison sentence if he is convicted.

After the escape, an emergency state inspection cited LCS Corrections Services Inc. for employing too few guards, adding an unauthorized number of bunks and keeping unlicensed guards on the payroll.

The Lafayette, La.-based company was ordered to take corrective measures but was not penalized, and LCS has said the problems have been fixed.

The guard who was overpowered was fired, the prison’s chief of security was demoted, and all employees were given lie detector tests. The company also installed a new outer fence, a new alarm system, and a metal detector for entering and exiting staff. It is in the process of putting in new outside lights and cameras.

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