Prisoner mistakenly released from Allegheny County Jail to fight extradition

A registered sex offender and convicted burglar who was mistakenly released from the Allegheny County Jail and arrested two weeks later by Indiana State Police troopers is fighting his extradition to Pittsburgh, the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office said Monday.

Djamal Eleam, 32, remains in the Putnam County Jail in Indiana, about 50 miles west of Indianapolis. In Allegheny County, officials said they're confident that changes to the jail's inmate release process will prevent mistakes like the one that allowed Eleam to walk out of jail.

“We have since met with the sheriff and put a more detailed process in place that includes a receipt and inventory of the paperwork which has been provided from one entity to the other to ensure that errors like this do not occur again,” Warden Orlando Harper said in a statement.

Harper and county spokeswoman Amie Downs would not comment further on the changes made or how Eleam was inadvertently released.

Eleam had been serving a four-year sentence in a Connecticut prison for burglary. He was brought to Allegheny County for a hearing on a sex offender registry violation. Eleam was convicted of attempted sexual assault in 2007 and indecent assault in 2004, according to Pennsylvania's Megan's Law sex offender registry.

On Aug. 3, the sex offender registry charges against Eleam were dropped. He was released later that day despite an agreement with the Connecticut Department of Corrections to fly Eleam back Aug. 18 to finish serving his prison sentence. When the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office went to check on Eleam the day before his scheduled flight, officials discovered he was not in the jail.

The Sheriff's Office was able to get most of the cost of the plane ticket refunded.

Four days after his release, University of Pittsburgh police found Eleam in Oakland and cited him with loitering and prowling at night. They did not arrest him and could not have known that he was supposed to be in jail, said Kevin Kraus, chief deputy at the county Sheriff's Office.

Kraus said deputies contacted Eleam by phone and asked that he turn himself in. He fled to Indianapolis, Kraus said. Sheriff's deputies tracked him, learned he bought a bus ticket to St. Louis and asked Indiana state troopers to arrest him on the bus.

Eleam faces escape and fleeing to avoid arrest, trial or punishment charges in Allegheny County.

Kraus said his department did not change its policy in response to Eleam's release and alleged flight but met with the jail to make sure procedures matched.

“There's always human error, and we just try to prevent this in the future,” Kraus said.

An inmate being mistakenly released from a prison or jail isn't uncommon. Jails in Texas, Florida, Canada and Australia released inmates early or released the wrong inmates in August.

In Allegheny County, at least four inmates have been mistakenly released from custody in the past 15 years.

“Confusion between the agencies is nothing new,” said Allegheny County Common Pleas President Judge Jeffrey A. Manning, who said he's confident Harper has addressed any gaps in paperwork that could lead to another mistaken release.

Eleam will have a hearing before a Putnam County, Ind., judge, who will determine whether to send him back to Allegheny County.

Aaron Aupperlee is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7986 or aaupperlee@tribweb.com.