Recaptured Dorchester prisoner a notorious Halifax escape artist with violent history
Jermaine Browne, a.k.a. Carvery, was found by RCMP on weekend, 1½ hours after escape from minimum security
An inmate who escaped from Dorchester Penitentiary on Saturday night, and was quickly recaptured, is serving a total sentence of nearly 42 years for numerous crimes, including a string of violent robberies in Nova Scotia that included an attempted murder, and has a history of escaping custody.
But he was known by another name at the time.
Jermaine
Browne, also known as Jermaine Carvery, is pictured here in 2008, the
same year he escaped from Nova Scotia jail guards. (N.S. Department of Justice) On Tuesday morning, Sophia Doiron, a spokesperson for the correctional service, told CBC News that Browne "is the same person as Jermaine Carvery."
Doiron did not respond to questions about why the news release about his escape made no mention of his previous name.
'The stuff of Hollywood'
In 2013, Browne, then known as Carvery, was sentenced by the Nova Scotia Supreme Court to 25 years for three robberies in 2004 at a Costco in Halifax, TRA Atlantic Cash & Carry in Truro and Chrissy's Trading Post in Hammonds Plains, and a fourth in 2006 at the ATM Direct Cash Group in Dartmouth.
Crown prosecutor Shauna Macdonald had recommended a life sentence for Browne, who was already serving 16 years for robberies he committed in Toronto. She described him as a "professional criminal" who had 39 prior offences. He and his accomplices stole more than $1 million in cash and goods, including cigarettes, none of which had been recovered, she said.
The Costco case, which saw more than 40 employees bound and gagged, herded into a trailer and held at gunpoint by masked men, was "the stuff of Hollywood" and "an act of urban terrorism," Macdonald told the court.
2008 daylight escape in downtown Halifax
Browne is perhaps best known for his daylight escape from shackles in downtown Halifax in April 2008 while awaiting trial.
He was being transported from the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Dartmouth to the Victoria General Hospital for day surgery when he managed to slip out of his ankle shackles in the back of a corrections van, then bolt past an unarmed guard while still handcuffed.
Browne, whom police warned was dangerous, eluded authorities for more than two months before being arrested at a motel in Ontario's Niagara Region.
An internal review found officials at the Dartmouth jail were unaware Carvery had attempted to escape from Toronto court cells in 1998 and was "high" risk.
In 2010, Carvery also attempted to escape the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility by climbing into the ceiling."
Only low-risk offenders in minimum security
The Correctional Service of Canada spokesperson declined to say when or why Browne was deemed a good candidate for the minimum-security unit at Dorchester, which also has a medium-security unit, citing privacy and the current investigation.
But "only those offenders who are assessed as having a low risk to public safety can be placed in a minimum-security institution," Doiron said.
According to the government website, minimum-security inmates must also be rated "low" for escape risk and for required degree of supervision and control within the institution.
The minimum-security environment, where the perimeter is "clearly defined but not normally directly controlled," enabling previous escapees to merely "walk away," plays a very important role in the process of reintegrating offenders back into the community and helping them become law-abiding citizens, Doiron said.
Browne's current warrant expiry date — when his sentence ends and he must be released from custody — isn't until July 25, 2050.
Move to minimum security premature?
"One could question whether or not [his] move to minimum security was premature," said Michael Boudreau, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at St. Thomas University in Fredericton.
"Now, of course, we say that with the advantage of hindsight," he said.
Boudreau noted prison escapes in Canada are "fairly rare." More federal inmates die in custody than escape, he said.
Michael
Boudreau, a criminology professor at St. Thomas University, said
Correctional Service Canada could decide to move Browne back to medium
security, or even maximum, following a risk reassessment. (CBC)
The escape could point to a mistake in assessment of Browne's risk level, he said.
Correctional Service of Canada regularly assesses all inmates to ensure they are placed at the appropriate security level, according to Doiron.
"One of the main factors that we take into account when considering the transfer of inmates to lower-security level facilities is the progress made in addressing the needs identified in their correctional plan, which outlines what they must do to address the factors that led to their criminal behaviour," she said, declining again to discuss any specifics.
In 2013, Browne told the court his crimes were fuelled by gambling and apologized to his victims.
When an escaped offender is recaptured, a new risk assessment is conducted "to ensure they continue to be placed in an institution with the appropriate security level," Doiron said, noting Browne could also face new charges.
Vague public advisory questioned
Asked why Browne's escape was not announced until after he was recaptured, Doiron replied: "To make local residents aware of this escape, the RCMP issued a post to let locals know to avoid the area."
The New Brunswick RCMP social media post at 9:39 p.m. said only: "#RCMPNB is responding to a police operation in the #Dorchester area. Please avoid the area to allow the police to work. We will provide an update when we are able."
The vague post raised concerns among some residents on social media. "This is a prison village. Folks are quite alarmed," one woman wrote.
"What area should people avoid? That announcement was pointless," another replied.
Are they being transparent enough with members of the local community to really convey to them the extent to which there is, or is not, a threat to public safety?
- Michael Boudreau, criminology professor
Boudreau said he agrees with the commenters. While prison escapes are rare, they do happen and "send a sense of fear throughout the community."
Nova Scotia RCMP "have made some strides" in improving their alerting system, as recommended by the Mass Casualty Commission following the 2020 shootings that killed 22 people, said Boudreau.
"But [this escape] does raise the question about the New Brunswick RCMP in terms of their level of issuing alerts. Are they being effective enough? And more importantly, are they being transparent enough with members of the local community to really convey to them the extent to which there is, or is not, a threat to public safety?"
New Brunswick RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Hans Ouellette did not respond to questions about why the advisory did not clearly state an inmate had escaped.
"At the time, the incident did not meet the criteria to issue an Alert Ready message," he said in an emailed statement.
"The RCMP was preparing follow-up public communications when the inmate was located and arrested, without incident."
Let’s move on.
Proof positive that the RCMP learn absolutely nothing from their screw ups. Every recommendation by the Mass Casualty Commission targeted the RCMP's woeful communication foul ups. People died because the force refused to share information with the public.
Now several years later a very violent career criminal escapes prison and the force again withholds information that could impact people's safety. Every province that relies on the RCMP for any kind of policing ought to reevaluate whether they are being well served and Ottawa should reorganize the entire structure of the force.
Few details about escape, recapture of inmate from Dorchester prison
Staff noticed Jermaine Browne missing Saturday night, Correctional Service of Canada announced early Sunday
Two days after an inmate escaped from Dorchester Penitentiary and was recaptured, no new information has been released.
On Saturday, shortly after 8:30 p.m., staff at the minimum-security unit of the prison noticed Jermaine Browne "was not accounted for," the Correctional Service of Canada announced in a news release early Sunday morning.
The RCMP were notified immediately and an arrest warrant was issued.
About an hour and a half later, Browne was apprehended.
An investigation into the circumstances of the escape is underway, Emile Belliveau, Dorchester's assistant warden, management services, said in a statement.
"Ensuring the safety and security of institutions, staff, and public remains the highest priority in the operations of the federal correctional system."
Details of crimes, sentence not released
On Monday, a Correctional Service spokesperson, who identified herself only by her first name, Sophia, did not respond to any questions from CBC News, including what time Browne actually escaped, how he was discovered missing, or why the public wasn't notified until after he was arrested.
Nor did she say what crimes Browne is in prison for, or how long a sentence he's serving.
Convicted murderer 'walked away' 8 months ago
Just eight months ago, a convicted murderer "walked away" from the minimum security unit at Dorchester, which is about 30 kilometres southeast of Moncton.
Robert Hilroy Legge, who is in his mid-80s, was "apprehended immediately" by staff, according to a news release issued by Correctional Service of Canada at the time.
Legge was sentenced to life in prison for the second-degree murder of Ann Lucas, 56, in Stephenville, N.L., 20 years ago.
In 2018, convicted murderer Steven Bugden also walked away from the minimum security unit. He was arrested in a wooded area between Dorchester and Sackville the following night.
Bugden was sentenced in 1999 to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 1997 stabbing of a university student in Ottawa. Angela Tong, 22, was stabbed 19 times at an Ottawa hotel.
Last step before being reintroduced to society
"There's no walls that separate this [minimum security] sector from the community," the assistant warden said at the time.
"This is the last step for [inmates] to be introduced into the society," Belliveau said. "If an inmate decides he wants to leave, he can do so on his own."
Still, "we take this very seriously," he said.
The minimum security unit is a "residential design model," and can house about 300 inmates, according to the Correctional Service of Canada website.
It consists of housing units, which include a shared living area for four to six inmates.
Nor did she say what crimes Browne is in prison for, or how long a sentence he's serving."
Well well well! Surprise surprise surprise!
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