By: Richard L. Smith
Federal authorities have charged four men with escaping from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Newark, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced.
The individuals — Franklin Norberto Bautista Reyes, 20, and Joel Enrique Sandoval-Lopez, 22, both of Honduras; and Joan Sebastian Castaneda Lozada, 18, and Andres Felipe Pineda Mogollon, 25, both of Colombia — were each charged separately with escape from federal custody.
According to court documents, all four were being held at Delaney Hall, a privately run detention center in Newark, pending immigration removal proceedings.
On or around June 12, 2025, the group allegedly escaped by breaking through a second-story aluminum wall.
Authorities said the men threw mattresses through the opening to cushion their fall, then used bed sheets to cover barbed wire atop the facility’s fencing.
Three of the escapees — Castaneda Lozada, Sandoval-Lopez, and Bautista Reyes — have since been apprehended. Castaneda Lozada and Sandoval-Lopez appeared in federal court on Monday, while Bautista Reyes appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor on Tuesday. Pineda Mogollon remains at large.
Each man faces a potential sentence of up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine if convicted.
The search for the remaining fugitive is ongoing.