Macon inmate pleads guilty to jail escape

MACON – A Macon man who broke out of the Bibb County Jail in 2023 as he was awaiting federal sentencing for armed drug trafficking has pleaded guilty to escaping from custody.

Johnifer Dernard Barnwell, 38, pleaded guilty to one count of escape from custody before U.S. District Judge C. Ashley Royal. Barnwell faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. His sentencing date will be determined by the court. There is no parole in the federal system.

“Johnifer Barnwell cannot escape justice, no matter how hard he tries or how many people he puts at risk for his own self-interest,” U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary said in a news release. “Our office will continue to support law enforcement by making every federal resource available to them in our collective effort to make our communities safer and hold the most dangerous repeat criminals accountable.”

According to court documents and statements referenced in court, Barnwell was tried and convicted on Oct. 2, 2023, of armed drug trafficking. Barnwell was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshals Service to await sentencing and was housed at the Bibb County LEC, a facility contracted by USMS to house federal inmates.

Barnwell escaped from the Bibb County LEC on Oct. 16, with the assistance of several individuals. Co-defendant Janecia Green, 31, of Macon, purchased a four-pound mallet and a Mayhew Guardian 2-3/4x9-inch Handguard Electrician Chisel from Home Depot on Oct. 13, 2023. Green gave the items to Christian “Twin” Williams, 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. Green pleaded guilty to one count of assisting escape of person committed to custody on May 14 and is facing a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Her sentencing date will be determined by the court.

Barnwell was captured in Augusta on Nov. 12, 2023, by FBI and Bibb County Sheriff’s Office deputies. He was alone in the house and was allegedly in possession of an AK-47 rifle with a loaded magazine; a 12-gauge shotgun loaded with 14 rounds; a .45 caliber pistol with a loaded magazine; an extended capacity magazine; a drum magazine; and 40 kilograms of suspected narcotics, the results of which are pending the completion of laboratory testing. To date, the results show Barnwell was in alleged possession of more than 23,000 grams of methamphetamine and more than 3,200 grams of fentanyl.

The case is being investigated by FBI, USMS and the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joy Odom is prosecuting the case for the government.