By Jozsef Papp
The Augusta Chronicle
AUGUSTA, Ga. — A man claiming to have been misidentified as his twin brother who escaped from a prison work detail in Augusta is expected be extradited back to Georgia after no evidence was found that a twin exists.
Raul Eduardo Prado, who was serving a 25-year sentence for trafficking marijuana in 2007, escaped May 7 from a work detail at the water treatment plant near Central and Highland avenues in Augusta. He was arrested the next day in Miami by a U.S. Marshal Regional Fugitive Task Force.
Prado, 63, claimed he was misidentified and told authorities he was Jean Vernet Prado, his twin brother. A motion filed by Prado’s lawyer in August asked for his release and opposed extradition to Georgia, but a judge denied the motion Tuesday in Miami, according to Jonathan Meltz, Prado’s lawyer.
According to court documents, Prado’s testimony was classified as “incredible and at times inherently inconsistent.”
During a series of hearings, matching fingerprint records from Georgia and Miami were shown, with a fingerprint analyst stating that twins do not have identical fingerprints, according to court documents. No relatives came forward to support Prado’s claim during the hearings.
When Prado escaped from the work detail, he is believed to have had outside help, The Augusta Chronicle previously reported. Prado is expected to be sent to the Jackson Diagnostic Center, a maximum-security prison in Jackson, Ga.
Prado is not the most recent inmate to escape from the Augusta area. In September, two Augusta Transitional Center inmates escaped from their facilities. According to the Georgia Department of Corrections Twitter feed, only one has been recaptured, while the other remains on the loose.
John Hoke Smith, 36, walked away from the facility Sept. 11 and has not been found. He was incarcerated for aggravated battery and had a maximum possible release date of Sept. 9, 2019. People are asked not to approach Smith and call 911, if seen.
Billy Morris, 39, did not return to his work assignment Sept. 7 but was recaptured Sept. 12. He was incarcerated July 6, 2017, and is being held at the Augusta State Medical Prison, according to the Corrections Department website.
The department could not be reached for comment.