Prison Break - Live!

If only Fox TV were there to film it - these guys seemed to have a less elaborate, more effective plan than on the TV series. Here's another incident to remind us that police corruption isn't just a problem on the Mexican side of the border.

The Edinburg police officer charged this spring with drug smuggling (who Grits reported on here) busted out of a private prison in South Texas Tuesday along with five gang members, according to the McAllen Monitor, ("Authorities suspect prison break was inside job," Sept. 21), possibly with inside help from someone at the facility. "They were among approximately 950 inmates held at the East Hidalgo Detention Center, a federal prison privately run by a Louisiana company, LCS Correctional Services."

The facility has a history of similar problems. "Two inmates — one held on a capital murder charge — also escaped from the La Villa facility in 2000, when it was run by another company named Texson. LCS took over the complex from Texson in 2001, when LCS officials say the previous owner went bankrupt. In that incident, authorities apprehended one escapee within 24 hours, but took two more years to apprehend the second," the Monitor reported.