A convicted felon who briefly escaped an Arkansas prison has been sentenced to additional prison time after pleading guilty in court.
Little Rock news outlet KARK reports Grant Hardin pleaded guilty Tuesday morning to second-degree escape during a hearing in Izard County Circuit Court. The 58-year-old was sentenced to 13 years in prison, to be served consecutively to the 80-year sentence he is already serving for rape and murder.
Hardin escaped from the Arkansas Department of Corrections North Central Unit in Calico Rock in May 2025. Authorities recaptured him about two weeks later, less than two miles from the prison.
Hardin has been incarcerated since 2017, serving 30 years for a murder conviction and 50 years for a 1997 rape. Before his convictions, Hardin worked in law enforcement and briefly served as police chief in Gateway, Arkansas.
His crimes were later examined in a 2023 television special, Devil in the Ozarks.
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