Bank robber gets 32 years in prison

HOT SPRINGS — Derrick Glenn Estell, whose escape from the Garland County jail drew national attention in 2013, was sentenced Thursday in federal court in Texarkana to 32 years in prison on two firearms charges in a bank robbery and carjacking in Hot Springs.

Estell, 35, was sentenced to seven years in prison on one count of use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and 25 years on the second count, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas Conner Eldridge said in a news release Thursday. The sentences are to run consecutively for a total of 32 years.

Estell was also sentenced to five years of supervised release for each count to run concurrently and was ordered to pay $12,478 in restitution. Judge Susan Hickey presided over the hearing in U.S. District Court in Texarkana.

Estell pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Hot Springs in December to the two counts of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence stemming from the March 1, 2013, bank robbery and a March 7, 2013, carjacking.

According to court records, on March 1, 2013, Estell entered Hot Springs Bank and Trust at 4579 Arkansas 7 North wearing a black mask and gloves and armed with a small, dark revolver.

He pointed the firearm at a customer, ordered him to get on the floor, demanded money, and pointed the weapon at the branch manager. The loss to the bank was more than $11,000.

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