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CHRIS TISCHThe inmates used a piece of metal to try to dig through a wall at the Pinellas County Jail, officials say.
LARGO - The Shawshank Redemption it wasn't.
Two inmates at the Pinellas County Jail were charged with attempted escape Monday night after they used a piece of metal to try to dig through the wall of their pod, sheriff's officials said.
Though the inmates tried to disguise their digging with a substance that looked like caulk, corrections deputies noticed something was amiss and interrupted the plot, officials said.
Inmates Paul D. Nance, 22, and Jason R. Norris, 26, both were charged with attempted escape, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison upon conviction.
Nance, of St. Petersburg, had earlier that day been sentenced to more than six years in prison after pleading no contest to multiple burglary and auto theft charges.
Norris, of Largo, was arrested earlier this month on drug charges.
About 7:30 p.m. Monday, corrections deputies were doing a routine inspection of the area when they noticed an irregularity around a concrete block on the exterior wall of the pod where the men were being held, sheriff's officials said.
Deputies searched the pod and found a piece of metal hidden under the bunk, which they think the pair used to dig around a concrete block in the wall, officials said.
"They were working their way through it," said Sgt. Tim Goodman, a Sheriff's Office spokesman. "They didn't get the block out."