Pago Pago, AMERIAN SAMOA — Two prisoners are alleged to have escaped from the Tafuna Correction Facility over the weekend, as reported by KVZK-TV. The government owned television station identified the two male prisoners as Martin Sega and Lauolefiso Manu Naea.

Sega is currently serving 7 years straight time for a string of assault convictions on his girlfriend, the mother of his child. Prior to sentencing in 2021, Sega had been in custody for over 16 months since his arrest in 2019.

Naea is also currently serving a 7-year straight time sentence after he was convicted for stealing in 2021. Prior to sentencing in 2021, he also had been in custody since 2019, since his arrest. Naea’s unusually severe sentence for stealing from the High Court took into account the Pre Sentence Report that said one of the victims in this case was afraid that Naea would continue to harm her family and steal her property if he was released.

There has been no public announcement from the DPS or the Corrections Agency confirming or denying the escapes of both men, and if correct, the current status of the search for the prisoners is unknown as of press time.

Escape from the TCF by its inmates is a common occurrence despite a high cement wall encasing the prison, with several community residents pointing to the ‘low’ back wall as the problem.

As recent as three weeks ago, a prisoner allegedly escaped on a Sunday morning, broke into a warehouse located in the Industrial Park, causing damage to its door. According to the owner of the business, who spoke briefly to Samoa News, she was told by the police officers who responded to her call for help that the escapee was well known by the police — for escaping TCF and then returning to his cell. The owner apparently interrupted the prisoner’s criminal activity when she stopped by her place of business unexpectedly. Of note, there was no public announcement of this escape either.