ORLANDO — Florida authorities searched on Thursday, Oct. 17, for two convicted murderers released from prison, based on forged court documents that indicated their life sentences had been reduced, state corrections officials said.

The forged signature of a high-profile judge, who presides in the county where the men committed their crimes was used to dupe prison officials into freeing them, a court official confirmed.

Joseph Jenkins and Charles Walker, both 34, were released from the Franklin Correctional Institution in Carrabelle, Florida, on September 27 and October 8, respectively.

Both were serving life terms – Walker for second-degree murder in 1999 in Orange County, and Jenkins for first-degree murder in 1998 of a father of six in Orlando, the Orlando Sentinel said.

“There were court documents that said they could be released and so, that is what the department used,” said Florida Department of Corrections spokeswoman Misty Cash.

But officials realized this week that the convicts should still be behind bars because “those documents were fraudulently modified,” Cash said.

A court spokeswoman in Orange County, Florida, where the men were convicted, said someone signed Judge Belvin Perry’s name on two official-looking documents granting their release. The faked court orders granted motions to correct illegal sentences for each inmate and cited case law in support of the reduced prison terms.

“Both documents were forged,” court spokeswoman Karen Levey said. “Judge Perry did not sign either release order. We don’t know how it happened.”