By Jon Johnson
GRAHAM COUNTY – A prison inmate on work duty reportedly has fled from his detail in the area near the Graham County Fairgrounds.
According to a released from the Arizona Department of Corrections, inmate Carlos Armando Corella-Rivera, 23, of Glendale, walked away from a supervised off-site work crew at the Graham County Fairgrounds. He was seen by a fairgrounds crew supervisor at approximately 11 a.m. ADC dispatched its chase teams, tracking dog teams and fugitive apprehension unit to find the fugitive inmate. Local authorities are also assisting in the search, according to the release.
Corella-Rivera, a minimum-custody inmate housed at ASPC-Safford, was admitted to prison in 2018 after being convicted out of Pinal County to serve six years on a charge of transportation of a dangerous drug (methamphetamine) for sale. Corella-Rivera had been assigned to the Graham County Fairgrounds work detail since July and was scheduled to be released from prison Oct. 3, 2023. The only other disciplinary infraction listed on his record while being incarcerated is a guilty verdict of theft/possession of stolen property on June 24, 2019.
Corella-Rivera is 5’5″ and weighs 154 pounds. He has black hair with brown eyes. He previously attended high school in Tucson, but is from San Lazaro, Sonora, Mexico, and has previously lived in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. So, there is a strong possibility that he has fled back across the border into Mexico.
ASPC-Safford reportedly has an inmate capacity of approximately 1,717 in three housing units at security levels 2 and 3, including the Fort Grant unit. The Arizona Department of Corrections uses a score classification system to assess inmates’ appropriate custody and security level placement. The scores range from 1- minimum security, to 5-maximum security.
Anyone who sees Corella-Rivera is encouraged to call the Graham County Sheriff’s Office at (928) 428-2560 or 911.
The last time a prisoner escaped from ASPC-Safford was on Dec. 6, 2017, but he didn’t go missing for long. Inmate Juan C. Nunley was captured hiding in an irrigation pipe in Thatcher in the area of First Avenue and Church Street around 4 p.m. the day after he went missing. He had walked off from his position on a supervised work crew near the prison’s sewage pond the previous day and was known to be missing since 11 a.m.
Nunley was in prison for theft and trafficking in stolen property. Other offenses include burglary in 1999, escape in the second degree and misconduct involving weapons in 2003, and another charge of misconduct involving weapons in 2011.
The Gila Herald will update this article when possible.
