Convicted rapist mistakenly released from Georgia prison recaptured hundreds of miles away in Kentucky
A convicted rapist mistakenly released while serving out a life sentence at a Georgia prison last week was captured hundreds of miles away in Kentucky, officials announced late Wednesday night.
Tony Maycon Munoz-Mendez was taken into custody in the Fort Thomas area around 10:30 p.m. by the corrections department fugitive unit, U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force and ICE, according to a tweet from the Georgia Department of Corrections.
The 31-year-old Georgia inmate was “released in error” around 11:30 a.m. Friday from the Rogers State Prison in Reidsville – located more than 600 miles away from where he was apprehended on Wednesday.
#BREAKING .@GA_Corrections Escapee/Release in Error Tony Maycon Munoz-Mendez captured in Ft. Thomas, Kentucky at 10:30pm by GDC Fugitive Unit, US Marshals Fugitive Task Force and ICE. More details to follow as soon as available.
— Georgia Corrections (@GA_Corrections) October 31, 2019
It’s unclear when officials realized that Munoz-Mendez had been missing or how he managed to flee the prison..
The recaptured inmate has been serving a life sentence since 2015, when he was convicted on two counts of rape. The prosecutor who handled the case in Gwinett County, John Warr, told WXIA the charges stemmed from Munoz-Mendez’s abuse of his girlfriend’s 10-year-old daughter.
Authorities “need to re-think how they’re handling their security, and how they let people out by mistake,” he told the news station.
“It’s incomprehensible.”
