Grant County inmate sentenced for foiled jail escape attempt

EPHRATA — A Grant County Jail inmate who attempted to pose as another inmate to get released from jail was sentenced to an additional month in jail.

Manuel Rodriguez Meza, 23, pleaded guilty in Grant County Superior Court to first-degree criminal impersonation and received a one-month jail sentence. Rodriguez Meza was initially facing a charge of second-degree attempted escape (detention facility), but the charge was dismissed in a plea agreement.

Rodriguez Meza was booked into the Grant County Jail on April 18 and was subsequently interviewed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. His bail was later set at $1,000 cash or bond and an immigration detainer was placed on him, according to court documents. On April 20 two inmates at the Grant County Jail were called to be booked for release from district court. The two inmates, one of whom was Rodriguez Meza posing as the inmate who was going to be released, gathered their stuff and identified themselves to deputies.

Corrections deputies then received a call over the intercom from the inmate Rodriguez Meza was impersonating. Rodriguez Meza, who was still in jail and hadn’t been released yet, was pulled aside for questioning. He was in possession of paperwork that belonged to the inmate he was impersonating, but he did not physically resemble the inmate.

“I asked if he knew that he had a $1,000 bail and he asked if anyone had come and tried to bail him out. I told inmate Rodriguez Meza that I was not aware of anyone trying to bail him out,” wrote a corrections officer. “Inmate Rodriguez Meza then asked if we would have released him. I asked if he knew that he had an immigration hold and he said he didn’t know for sure. I told him that Immigration did place a detainer and he would not be able to bail.”

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.