NEW YORK - Jail officials have put restrictions on the movements of Sante Kimes, sentenced last week to life in prison for murder, because of another inmate's allegation that she was plotting an escape. Kimes is a former resident of Carson City and graduated from Carson High School in 1952.
Corrections spokesman Tom Antenen said jail officials will not let Kimes leave Rikers Island before she goes to prison next week. If her lawyers want to see her, they have to come to Rikers.
Antenen said the allegation that Kimes was in escape mode reached jail officials Monday. He said a lawyer reported that his client, another female inmate, said Kimes had tried to enlist her in an attempt to break out.
Antenen, who said the inmate asked her lawyer to pass the unconfirmed information along to authorities, did not identify her or her attorney.
There was no physical evidence of an escape plan, Antenen said, but ''whenever we hear the 'E' word we take precautions.''
He noted that Kimes escaped after an arrest years ago.
Kimes and her son, Kenneth Kimes, 25, were each sentenced on June 27 to more than 120 years in prison for murdering wealthy 82-year-old widow Irene Silverman in a scheme to steal her $7 million Manhattan home.
Although Silverman's body was never found, the Kimeses were convicted after a 13-week trial. Their lawyers say they are planning appeals.
Michael Hardy, Sante Kimes's lawyer, said he had not heard about any escape attempt, ''but if this is from another inmate, it is probably unreliable and it is unreasonable for them to penalize or restrict Mrs. Kimes.''
His 65-year-old client, of Las Vegas, is housed with 1,400 other women in the Rose M. Singer Center, the only female facility among Rikers Island's 10 jails.
