Scioto County Sheriff Marty Donini was upfront as to how a dangerous inmate ended up being accidentally released from the county jail last week. “Somebody messed up,” he said. “It is what it is. I don’t like the situation. I think we need to accept the responsibility.”
Talleon Brazil was ten years into serving a 15-40 year sentence in Michigan for carjacking and other serious charges when he was transferred to Scioto County to face drug charges. The court in Scioto County set his bail at $50,000, though there was a hold on his record saying that he shouldn’t be released anywhere but back into the custody of the Michigan Department of Corrections. That’s where, as Sheriff Donini says, “someone messed up.”
Brazil’s family put up a $50,000 bond, he was mistakenly released and then hightailed it home to Michigan. All of this happened back on January 21. But the public didn’t know about the release until the Michigan Department of Corrections put out a press release last Friday blaming Scioto County for his release.
I spoke exclusively with Sheriff Marty Donini about why it took 10 days for the public to be notified that a dangerous inmate was back on the street. Donini says the jail administrator didn’t tell him about the accidental release until last Wednesday. “I was informed on Wednesday that he needed to sit down and talk to me in case someone asked me about it.” The jail administrator then informed Michigan of the error.
Donini said they had a good reason for keeping quiet about the mistake. “The employee that transported him from Michigan had a lengthy conversation with the guy and he was convinced that he was about to be released and said he was anxious to get his case done.”
Since Brazil’s family had put up a $50,000 bond, Donini hoped he might turn up for his scheduled court date on February 4 and they could simply pick him up on his way into the courtroom. The Michigan Department of Corrections was unwilling to wait and issued a press release. Brazil was apprehended in Detroit on Sunday.
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Keywords: Sheriff Mary Donini