A Mexican national awaiting sentencing on drug charges escaped from a private prison in Florence, Ariz., last week by having himself deported.
Sacramento Iribe Flores, 20, switched his identification card with another inmate awaiting deportation to Mexico Monday, said Enrique Perez, chief deputy U.S. marshal for Arizona.
Iribe Flores was then put on a van filled with other deportees headed to the border at Nogales and walked back into Mexico, said Russell Ahr, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Phoenix.
The name of the inmate who swapped identification cards with Iribe Flores was not released by either federal agency, but records in Tucson's U.S. District Court identified him as Juan Carlos Damian-Burrola, who was to be released to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service for illegal re-entry into the United States. The identification cards include the inmate's name, an identification number and a photo.
Officials at the Corrections Corp. of America's Central Arizona Detention Center confirmed the escape last Thursday but referred all questions to the U.S. Marshals Service.
According to court records, Iribe Flores was arrested after he and his mother drove across the Grand Avenue port of entry in Nogales, Ariz., on March 11 in a 2004 Nissan SUV that neither of them owned.
Authorities searched the vehicle and found 37 pounds of cocaine and 10 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in the flooring of the SUV.
Iribe Flores told agents he knew the drugs were in the car and that he was to be paid $1,000 to take the vehicle to the parking lot of the Wal-Mart in Nogales, Ariz., court records show.
Iribe Flores was arrested and charged on four counts: possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; possession with intent to distribute cocaine; importation of methamphetamine; and importation of cocaine.
On April 15, Iribe Flores entered a not-guilty plea on all four counts. He changed his plea June 23 and was to be sentenced Oct. 15.
The amount of prison time Iribe Flores was facing was not immediately available last Thursday evening.
Perez said the U.S. Marshals Service is conducting an investigation into the escape, and is working with both U.S. and Mexican authorities to find Iribe Flores.