Two former escapees of MCC transferred to federal prison in Indiana
by stefano Esposito Staff Reporter/sesposito@suntimes.com February 1, 2013 7:54PM
This undated photo provided by the FBI shows Jose Banks, one of two inmates who escaped from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012. | AP
Article Extras
Updated: March 3, 2013 6:12AM
Joseph Banks and Kenneth Conley have left the Metropolitan Correctional Center — again.
This time, though, officials know where they’ve gone.
Banks and Conley, the two men who allegedly used knotted bed sheets to break out of their 17th-floor cell Dec. 18, have been transferred to the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind.
Conley was moved last week and Banks the week before, said Ed Ross, a spokesman with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
Ross wouldn’t say why the two men — who each await sentencing in Chicago in separate bank robbery cases — were transferred. Nor would he say if they’re sharing a cell.
Was there concern the two men might try to escape from the MCC again?
“I wouldn’t be able to comment on that,” Ross said. “It’s not uncommon for an inmate to be transferred from one institution to another.”
Neither Banks’ nor Conley’s attorneys could be reached for comment.
Banks was captured two days after his escape, after a tipster alerted authorities he was staying in Lincoln Park, an area where he once lived.
Conley spent 18 days on the lam, after being captured in Palos Hills.
Banks is due back in court Feb. 15, while Conley is set to make an appearance March 24.
