Woman sentenced to 30 months for assisting felon’s escape from Bibb County Jail
A Macon woman was sentenced to 2.5 years in federal prison Wednesday for helping a convicted felon and others escape from the Bibb County Jail in 2023.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A Macon woman was sentenced to 2.5 years in federal prison Wednesday for helping a convicted felon and others escape from the Bibb County Jail in 2023.
Following her prison term, 31-year-old Janecia Green will be on supervised release for three years. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia, there is no parole in the federal system.
“Janecia Green put our entire community at risk when she chose to help Johnifer Barnwell and several other dangerous convicted felons escape from the Bibb County Jail,” U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary said. “This sentencing illustrates the serious consequences facing those who help criminals evade justice.”
Court documents and statements show Barnwell was tried and convicted on October 2, 2023, of armed drug trafficking and was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshals Service (USMS) to await sentencing. He was being held in the Bibb County Jail.
According to court documents, Green purchased a mallet and chisel from Home Depot on October 13, 2023. She gave the items to an associate of Barnwell’s, who arranged to smuggle them inside the Bibb County LEC perimeter. The mallet and chisel were then used to create an opening in the jail wall, and Barnwell and three other prisoners escaped. Authorities captured Barnwell in Augusta on November 12, 2023, where law enforcement says he was found in possession of several firearms and more than 23,000 grams of methamphetamine and 3,200 grams of fentanyl.
“The sentence handed down on Janecia Green illustrates the severe penalty for assisting a convicted felon and others in escaping the Bibb County Jail,” Bibb County Sheriff David Davis said. “We can be grateful for the investigative work of the Bibb Investigators and our federal partners in bringing this individual to justice.”
