One of three inmates who escaped from O.C. jail and who kidnapped cabdriver is guilty

One of three inmates who helped orchestrate an elaborate jailbreak from the Orange County Men’s Jail in 2016 that included the kidnapping of a cabdriver has been convicted in the case, authorities said.

Bac Tien Duong, 48, was convicted this week of one felony count of escape by a prisoner and one felony count of kidnapping, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office. The jury did not reach a verdict on one felony count of taking a vehicle.

Duong is the first of three inmates convicted in the case. Duong, Jonathan Tieu and Hossein Nayeri became targets of a statewide manhunt that lasted more than a week in January 2016. The jailbreak garnered attention nationwide and in Vietnamese-language media because two of the fugitives, Duong and Tieu, were Vietnamese immigrants.

Authorities said the trio cut through at least four layers of metal, steel and rebar in the dormitory, got through unsecured plumbing tunnels and made their way through to the roof, where they used a makeshift rope of knotted bedsheets and cloth to rappel to freedom.

Hours after their Jan. 22 escape, Duong called Long Ma’s cab service and allegedly held him at gunpoint as Ma drove them from Orange County to the Bay Area. They managed to escape authorities until their alliance unraveled after they fought about whether to kill the cabdriver they had taken hostage.

Duong surrendered to police after returning to O.C. from Northern California. Nayeri and Tieu were arrested later in San Francisco.

When Duong escaped, he was facing charges in a separate case for attempted murder, assault with a firearm, first-degree burglary, and discharging a firearm at an inhabited dwelling, according to the district attorney. His trial is still pending on those charges.

In his current case, Duong faces a maximum sentence of eight years and eight months in state prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 14. Nayeri and Tieu are still awaiting trial on the jail escape.