FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Authorities say they thwarted an elderly businessman’s plan to escape from a Florida jail and return to France, where he had previously fled in an attempt to avoid child pornography charges.
A tip outside the jail prompted a two-month investigation of 78-year-old John Manchec and the people he had recruited in his escape plan, Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers said Monday during a news conference. press.
«Essentially, this is what the plan boils down to,» Sheriff Flowers said. «These people outside are going to wait until Manchec has a doctor’s visit, and they’re going to get our prison staff out while he’s at the medical center.»
The plan called for Manchec’s employees to pepper-spray prison guards and take him to his private plane near Fort Pierce so he could fly to France, Flowers said.
Manchec is a billionaire with dual US and French citizenship, Flowers said.
Manchec was arrested in 2014 on 49 counts of child pornography. Flowers said he left the country to avoid prosecution after posting nearly $500,000 bail and moved into his medieval estate in southern France, the Château de Pechrigal.
France denied US attempts to extradite him but came close, but he was eventually arrested in the Dominican Republic in 2020 and returned to Florida, according to the sheriff.
Manchec applied for release from jail in January, saying he suffered from chronic medical conditions and because he broke his hip and wrist late last year, the sheriff said. The request was denied.
The escape plot centered on a doctor’s appointment on April 12, Flowers said. But at least one of the people involved tipped off the police, allowing investigators to unravel the plot.
An examination of Manchec jail phone records found that he used the code words «paint job» while talking to his staff about the plot.
They were to prepare his plane, his 140-foot (42-meter) yacht, a black utility truck and other vehicles purchased just for the escape attempt, Flowers said. Manchec even bailed out a cellmate and then allowed them to live in his house. That person helped prepare for the escape, even packing a suitcase and his favorite liquor, the sheriff said.
Flowers said the plan was to «go back to his chateau in France» and never have to face charges.
Manchec remains in the Indian River County Jail, with additional charges related to the escape. Two inmates and two employees were also arrested and charged with conspiracy in the escape plot. A lawyer listed in Manchec’s court records did not immediately return an email seeking comment on the new charges.
Manchec was originally arrested in December 2014, following a child pornography investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.