Authorities increase rewards for two remaining New Orleans jail escapees

Crime Stoppers New Orleans and the FBI on Thursday announced that they have both upped their rewards for the apprehension of the two remaining escapees from the May 16 jailbreak from the Orleans Justice Center as the men approach three weeks on the run. 

The bounty for Derrick Groves and Antoine Massey is now $20,000 from the FBI, and $20,000 from Crime Stoppers. 

The ATF is also offering a $10,000 reward for the arrest of each fugitive, bringing the total potential earnings for assisting in the capture up to $50,000 each.

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Groves pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter in unrelated cases thereafter, and was scheduled to be sentenced in July. 

Massey, a known escape artist, also remains on the run. He was in jail and awaiting trial on charges of domestic abuse involving strangulation, theft of a motor vehicle and a parole violation. 

Before busting out of the jail, he had escaped custody three times. He was no longer eligible to be released from jail with an ankle monitor due to his habit of cutting them off, only for police to have to track him down. 

The law enforcement agencies involved in the hunt, including the Louisiana State Police, the FBI, ATF, U.S. Marshals and the New Orleans Police Department, are scheduled to hold a joint press conference on Thursday to address the status of the escapees. 

Cameron Lindsay, a former federal prison warden, was befuddled that Massey was locked in a first-floor cell of the facility, saying that his past warranted far more attention from corrections staff. 

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"He would be housed in the most secure location within the jail," Lindsay told Fox News Digital. "All staff would be apprised of this individual, and given his incredibly high risk for escape, I would require documented frequent checks at least once every 30 minutes on an irregular schedule."

"I would also insist on documented correctional supervisor rounds, ensuring line staff are strictly following guidelines for inmates of this caliber who present the greatest threat to the community," he said.

The other eight prisoners who escaped from their cell and hopped the barbed wire fence to freedom have all been recaptured. 

So far, 14 people have also been arrested for allegedly aiding the fugitives either before or after the escape.