Partington sentenced for escape in brother mix up prison release

WILKES-BARRE — A man who used his half-brother’s identity to be released from the Luzerne County Correctional Facility was sentenced to up to one year in prison on an escape charge Wednesday.

Billy Partington, 30, of Wilkes-Barre, misrepresented himself and never corrected corrections’ officers when his picture was compared to his half-brother, Drake Partington, who were both jailed at the county correctional facility on Jan. 26, court records say.

Bail had been posted for Drake Partington, 22, who was jailed on simple assault charges stemming from a fight at the Hanover Village Apartment Complex in Hanover Township.

When corrections’ officers called “Partington” to be released, Billy Partington was taken from his cell and released, court records say.

Billy Partington was captured three days later by Wilkes-Barre police on Jan. 31.

Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas sentenced Billy Partington to six-months to one year at the county prison.

The wrongly released inmate was blamed on “human error,” according to a report released Feb. 9 by Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo.