Inmate Charged After Switching IDs With Escapee

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - Federal authorities have charged a Wayne County jail inmate with assisting the escape of another inmate by switching identity wristbands.

Eighteen-year-old Adrian Rivera, of Hamtramck, was charged Friday in Detroit federal court.

The U.S. Marshals Service said 34-year-old Rocky Marquez convinced Rivera, who was to be released on bond, to switch wristbands with him by promising to take care Rivera when he gets out of jail.

The Marshals Service said Rivera flushed Marquez' wristband down a toilet after the two men made the switch. Rivera told authorities that he would pretend to be asleep when Wayne County jail officers called Marquez' name.

Wayne County Jail employees didn't realize Marquez was missing until Jan. 25, five days after his escape, when they went to get him for an appointment, according to court documents.

Meanwhile, Marquez still is on the run, nearly two weeks after walking out of the Wayne County jail -- and it's not his first escape.

In May, Marquez busted out of a Phoenix, Arizona jail in a similar manner and was on the run for months until U.S. Marshals tracked him down in Detroit last month. Officials said Marquez had a loaded AK-47 near him when he was arrested on the city's west side. He was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and was awaiting extradition to Phoenix when he escaped.

Marquez originally was arrested in September 2010 on suspicion of perjury, influencing a witness, forgery, felony criminal damage, misconduct involving weapons, driving under the influence, failure to stop and misdemeanor criminal damage.

A Marshals Service spokesman told WWJ Newsradio 950 they believe Marquez is still in the Detroit area. He is considered armed and dangerous.

Anyone with information about Marquez's whereabouts is asked to contact the Wayne County Sheriff's Department at 313-224-2222.

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