Inmate who escaped by walking away has been caught, SC Department of Corrections says
The search for an inmate who escaped from the South Carolina Department of Corrections Monday ended with his capture, the agency reported.
James Lash Russell “walked away” from a job site in Florence County just after 10 p.m., according to the SCDOC. His escape was days after his 40th birthday on Dec. 1.
Shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday, the SCDOC reported Russell was apprehended.
Russell was assigned to the minimum security Palmer Pre-Release Center, also located in Florence County. The SCDOC reported Russell was on a work-release program since being transferred to Palmer in September.
After being convicted on grand larceny and accessory after the fact (on a D felony) charges in an Orangeburg court in 2014, Russell was projected to be eligible for parole in January 2019, according to the prison records.
His projected parole date was April 9, 2019, although he was originally sentenced to 8 years, 4 months and 21 days behind bars, per the SCDOC.
Prison records show this was the third time Russell was participating the work-release program at Palmer since he was first incarcerated in an SC correctional facility in 2015.
He has also been an inmate at Kirkland Correctional Institute in Columbia, Wateree River Correctional Institution in Sumter County, Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville, and Turbeville Correctional Institute in Clarendon County, according to Russell’s prison records.
Russell had not previously attempted an escape prior to Monday, according to prison records, but he was disciplined in 2015 for smuggling/conspiracy to smuggle contraband when he was an inmate at Wateree River.
This story was originally published December 4, 2018 at 1:55 AM.
