Woman Charged as Accomplice in Prisoner Escape

Associated Press

A 22-year-old woman has been charged as an accomplice in Wednesday’s prisoner escape from a Matanuska Valley jail.

Alaska State Troopers say Kosha Lynae Jacob of Wasilla was arrested Wednesday night in connection with the escape of 44-year-old Kent Charles Matte from the Mat-Su Pretrial Facility in Palmer.

Matte was captured Wednesday afternoon as he tried to flee from a Wasilla home, about 15 miles from the pre-trial facility and  about  six hours after he opened a hole in the chain-link  fence of the jail’s recreation yard.

Thursday, Garland Armstrong, the Department of Corrections institutions director, said Matte is now incarcerated in Anchorage in a maximum security cell, awaiting charges by the state.

In a press conference today, Armstrong said the escape incident has prompted an internal review of prison facilities

Those changes could include staffing levels, he said.

Garland said Matte was accepted into Alaska from Idaho under supervision by Alaska probation staff.  He would not comment on the relationship between Matte and Jacob.  Armstrong did say Jacob was one of Matte’s visitors at the Palmer pre-trial facility.

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