A man successfully impersonated a judge to reduce an inmate’s bond, allowing him to be released from jail, before authorities discovered the scam, according to a sheriff’s office in Louisiana.
Adrian James St. Romain, 42, is charged with a variety of offenses, including false impersonation, assisting escape, attempted simple escape, and injuring public records.
He was arrested on an unrelated warrant on Tuesday, according to a news release from the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Department, and was later charged with “impersonating local judges.”
According to authorities, the incident began in April, when someone called the Calcasieu Correctional Center and claimed to be a local judge. They were “able to verbally reduce an inmate’s bond” to “Released on Recognizance,” according to the sheriff’s office.
According to local NBC affiliate KPLC, the inmate, Demond Lynn Delahoussaye Sr., 46, “was released on that fraudulent bond” in June.
Only when Delahoussaye appeared in court on July 17 did authorities discover that his release had been granted under false pretenses.” He was then “immediately arrested and booked back into the Calcasieu Correctional Center,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Delahoussaye is currently in jail on an aggravated assault charge, according to court records. His relationship with St. Romain is unclear.
However, St. Romain reportedly intended to continue the alleged deception. According to reports, he “attempted two more calls in July, again impersonating a judge in an effort to set another fraudulent bond on the same inmate.”
However, he was unsuccessful, and detectives named St. Romain as the suspect. Although he has been arrested and charged with the assistance of the United States Marshals Service, authorities say the investigation is ongoing.
“We have policies in place and have already made changes to ensure that this type of situation does not happen again,” Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Stitch Guillory stated. “This was an honest error that occurred due to lack of training, and we have addressed it.”
“We did not release any information in July after it was discovered because our detectives and corrections personnel were conducting an ongoing investigation. “Revealing details too soon may have tipped off the suspect,” he said. “I want to commend our detectives, corrections deputies, and the CPSO Real Time Crime Center for the work they did using multiple law enforcement tools and techniques to connect the dots and identify the suspect responsible.”
As of Wednesday, St. Romain’s bond had yet to be set.
