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WADESBORO, N.C. — An inmate who walked away from a work-release job in Anson County on Wednesday morning is back in custody, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Stephon J. Easterling was captured roughly eight hours after he went to work on an off-prison job assignment around 10 a.m. and didn’t return from a break.
He was caught on Leak Street in Rockingham. Correction officials said Easterling will be transferred to a higher-custody prison and will face escape charges.
Easterling was convicted of drug possession, fleeing police, and habitual felon in 2022, and he was projected to be released in February of 2024.
NCDPS says witnesses reported that Easterling got into a white Nissan Rogue SUV, which drove off.
The department says Easterling is originally from Hamlet, which is in Richmond County.
(WATCH: Family hopes to find answers in Anson County man’s death)
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