In the early morning hours of March 4, Lompoc Federal Correctional Institution staff discovered that an inmate had walked away from a Satellite Prison Camp in Lompoc, according to a release from the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).
Mauricio Martinez, a 29-year-old Hispanic male serving time at the prison for dealing methamphetamine, was still at large as of the Sun's press time. The U.S. Marshals Service and other law enforcement agencies were notified of Martinez's disappearance that day, according to the BOP, and an internal investigation was initiated.
Martinez is the second inmate to walk out of the minimum-security prison this year. Inmate Carl Henderson, 47, walked out of a Satellite Prison Camp in January. Four inmates escaped from the prison in 2017, and five did the same in 2016.
According to Lompoc Police Department Sgt. Kevin Martin, the department's standard procedure following a walk-out is to post an image and information about the inmate on the department's mobile app. Community members are encouraged to report any sightings of suspected escapees, but sightings aren't common, he said.
"Our experience has been, in all the years that I've been here at the department, that by the time we're notified, they are completely out of the area," Martin said. "We keep our eyes open, and if we see them we will deal with them, but more than likely that's not going to happen."
A BOP spokesperson would not comment further to the Sun on the incident.
