New Mexico governor's prison break revelation turns out to be phony. Now he can't escape the political damage. The governor claimed that prisoners had dug a tunnel for their escape and had even built a fully equipped kitchen in the prison administration building basement to feed the rioters. Either the governor was going to come clean and say he was given bad information, or I was going to climb out on that limb and try to set things straight. COs have been working double and triple shifts since Johnson banned hiring replacements for retiring officers at PNM which is scheduled to be closed for good in October.
Overtime is mandatory and COs can be disciplined or even terminated if they refuse to accept it.
The governor also has launched a campaign to build two new prisons and to privatize the whole system, possibly putting COs out of work. But the governor so far has failed to convince the people of New Mexico or their state representatives that privatization is the answer. The day after the governor s news conference they called the press with their own explanation. I can t think of any other reason for this. Within hours, several key state legislators announced they would tour the prison to have a firsthand look at the alleged escape route.