Global Courant 2023-05-23 19:10:13
VERO BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Florida authorities say they foiled an elaborate jailbreak plan by a 78-year-old businessman who previously fled to France after his 2014 arrest on child pornography charges before being arrested and returned to another country to the US
A tip from outside the prison sparked a two-month investigation into the actions of John Manchec, some of his employees and others he befriended while in prison, Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers said at a news conference Monday. Manchec is a citizen of both the United States and France.
“Basically, the plan boils down to this,” the sheriff said. “These people standing outside will wait for Manchec to have a doctor’s visit, and they will take out our corrections personnel while he is in the medical facility.”
The plan also called for Manchec employees to have a plane — which the sheriff said the man owned — ready at nearby Fort Pierce for him to escape.
Manchec, whom the sheriff described as a multimillionaire, was originally arrested in 2014 on 49 child pornography charges. He left the country to avoid prosecution after posting nearly $500,000 bail. He returned to the south of France, where he owned a medieval estate, the Chateau Pechrigal, the sheriff said.
The sheriff said attempts to have Manchec extradited from France were denied, but he was eventually arrested in the Dominican Republic in 2020 and returned to Florida.
Manchec tried to get out of jail in January, saying he suffered from several chronic medical conditions and because he broke his hip and wrist late last year, the sheriff said. The request was rejected.
The escape plan centered on a medical appointment on April 12, Flowers said. But people involved in the plan were loose-lipped, and detectives got a tip that they were going to look into.
An investigation of Manchec prison phone records found that he used the code words “paint job” while talking to his employees about the plot.
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The plan included preparing his plane, a 140-foot (42-meter) yacht, a black van and other vehicles purchased just for the escape attempt, Flowers said. Manchec even posted bail for a cellmate who lived in his home and helped make arrangements, including preparing a briefcase and buying his prepped liquor, the sheriff said.
“He’s going back to his chateau in France… he’s going to escape on his plane and back to France and he’ll never face these charges,” the sheriff said.
“This was the real thing,” Flowers said, adding that the plan was discovered before it could be put into motion.
Manchec remains in Indian River County jail on attempted escape charges, and four others were arrested and charged with the plot. A lawyer who could speak for Manchek was not on the prison list.
Manchec was originally arrested in December 2014 following a child pornography investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
