LAKE CHARLES, La. (KLFY) — A Lake Charles man is behind bars after allegedly pretending to be a judge in order to get an inmate released from the Calcasieu Parish jail, authorities said.

Adrian J. St. Romain, 42, of Lake Charles, is charged with attempted simple escape, assisting escape, injuring public records and false impersonation. 

Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office detectives began investigating several suspicious phone calls that were made to the Calcasieu Correctional Center between April and July. The calls came from a suspect who was later learned to be impersonating local judges in an attempt to fraudulently set an inmate’s bond, officials said. 

Investigators said the suspect called the CCC April 16 and was able to verbally change an inmate’s bond to “Released on Recognizance,” and the inmate was released in June. 

When the inmate appeared for court on July 17, it was discovered the release had been granted under false pretenses. The inmate was immediately booked back into the Calcasieu Correctional Center. 

The name of the inmate was not released.

The suspect then attempted two more calls in July, again impersonating a judge in an effort to set another fraudulent bond on the same inmate, but was unsuccessful, authorities said. 

Detectives identified St. Romain as the person making the phone calls, officials said. 

Deputies with the CPSO Warrants Division, with the assistance from the U.S. Marshal’s Service, arrested St. Romain Tuesday on an unrelated warrant. After an interview he was booked into the Calcasieu Correctional Center on both his original warrant and the new charges. His bond has not yet been set. 

Calcasieu Parish Sheriff Stitch Guillory said his office has already made changes to ensure this type of situation does not happen again. 

“This was an honest error that occurred due to lack of training, and we have addressed it,” Guillory said. “We did not release any information in July once it was discovered due to the fact our detectives and corrections personnel were in the middle of an active investigation.”   

The investigation is ongoing, Guillory said. 

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