Man who escaped Mississippi prison months before release gets 40-year sentence

A 21-year-old man who decided to escape prison with just a few months of his sentence left has been jailed for 40 years.

Shunekndrick Huffman fled Central Mississippi Correctional Facility on 25 August last year, broke into a nearby home and held people at gunpoint.

He stole a car from one of them, but had to flee on foot when he crashed it.

Huffman was found hiding in a bin at Mississippi State Hospital in Whitfield, about two miles from the prison, and was locked up again within hours.

He was serving a seven-year sentence for aggravated assault at the time, with his expected release about four months away in December.

The ill-advised prison break means he could be in his sixties before he can walk free.

A judge gave him 40 years in state prison on Monday after he admitted kidnapping charges, said Rankin County district attorney Bubba Bramlett.

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The correctional facility’s boss, Burl Cain, told local TV that security would be improved to prevent future escapes.

He was also forced to apologise at the time of the incident after a siren to alert locals to an escaped convict failed to go off.