Michigan prisoner is missing after being released in Ohio

DETROIT (AP) — Authorities searched Friday for a Michigan prison inmate who was recently transferred to Ohio to face drug charges but was improperly released after posting bond.

Talleon Brazil has been free since $50,000 bond was posted on Jan. 21 in Scioto County, Ohio, said Chris Gautz, a spokesman at the Michigan Corrections Department.

“He shouldn't be approached,” Gautz said. “I don’t know if he’s armed, but he should be considered dangerous.”

Brazil, 31, has served about 10 years of a minimum 15-year sentence for carjacking and other crimes in the Detroit area.

The Corrections Department released him to Ohio authorities to face drug charges that were pending in Scioto County. Gautz said there was a key condition: Brazil was supposed to be locked up while in Ohio and then returned to Michigan at the end of his case.

“We're not sure where the breakdown was” in Ohio, he said.

The Scioto County prosecutor, Shane Tieman, said it's no surprise that a bond was set for Brazil. The issue is why the local jail released him when he's still under a Michigan prison sentence.

It simply might have been a mistake, Sheriff Marty Donini said.

"I'll figure it out, and we'll deal with it," he said.

Gautz said the Corrections Department confirmed Brazil's release Thursday after a tip from another prisoner.

Investigators believe Brazil is somewhere in Michigan. Gautz said the man's Detroit-area family should have known that he couldn't be released.

"He definitely should know,” Gautz said. “Hopefully he'll see this on the news and turn himself in.”

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