Antoine Massey was arrested Friday in New Orleans after nearly six weeks on the run following a jailbreak that exposed serious security lapses at the city’s main jail.
Louisiana State Police and U.S. Marshals located Massey at a residence roughly two miles from the Orleans Justice Center, where he and nine others escaped on May 16. Authorities said Antoine Massey, 32, now faces additional charges after evading capture for over a month.
Antoine Massey was one of only two inmates still missing from the group. Eight others were already recaptured—most within city limits, two in Texas. Only Derrick Groves, convicted of second-degree murder, remains unaccounted for.
During his time on the run, Massey posted a video on Instagram claiming he was innocent and hadn’t escaped but had been “let out.” In the video, he pleaded for help from Meek Mill, Lil Wayne, NBA YoungBoy and even Donald Trump.
“I’m asking for help from the world, from Meek Mill, Lil Wayne and YoungBoy. Donald Trump. I couldn’t even get a lawyer. I couldn’t even afford a lawyer to prove my innocence. I didn’t break out, I was let out,” Massey said.
Antoine Massey, who was being held on domestic abuse by strangulation and auto theft charges, also said in the video, “I’m not going to lie, I was causing problems. The person I was, I’m not that person. I have a 3-year-old son. I have an 18-year-old daughter that graduated. People don’t understand that.”
The escape took place after inmates forced open faulty cell doors, removed a toilet to break through a wall, and scaled a perimeter fence. The breach went unnoticed for more than seven hours, raising questions about staffing and oversight at the jail.
Investigators have arrested at least 13 people accused of helping the inmates flee, including jail employees and outside accomplices. One maintenance worker is charged with assisting with the removal of the toilet, which helped facilitate the escape.
Massey’s public appeal to Meek Mill wasn’t random. The rapper co-founded the REFORM Alliance in 2019 with Jay-Z and others to push for changes in parole and probation laws.