HOT SPRINGS -- The mother of an inmate whose escape from the former Garland County jail in 2013 gained national attention pleaded guilty to a reduced charge Tuesday for her part in helping her son after his escape.
Glenda Sue Estell, 57, of Hot Springs appeared before Garland County Circuit Judge John Homer Wright and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of hindering apprehension or prosecution, reduced from an original felony charge of assisting or furnishing implements of escape, and was sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation, fined $500 and ordered to pay $170 in court costs.
"I'm just thankful this long 2½-year nightmare is finally over," Estell said after her hearing.
Glenda Estell was arrested Aug. 2, 2013, on the original felony charge, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, after an investigation into the July 28, 2013, escape of her son, Derrick Glenn Estell, 36, who had been taken back to the old jail from the Arkansas Department of Correction for an arraignment the next day on multiple charges.
Deputy prosecutor Jason Johnson said Tuesday that one of the key witnesses who could have placed Derrick Estell at his mother's home after his escape is in federal custody.
"Given the length of time this case has gone on and the expense of transporting [the witness] back here for what is essentially a low-level felony, after analyzing the case we felt justice was best served by her pleading to a misdemeanor," Johnson said. "She basically gave him money and food, and even the state understands a mother trying to help her son. We can't condone it, but as parents ourselves we understand it."
Derrick Estell remains in custody at the Garland County jail awaiting hearings on local charges.
According to reports, moments after talking to his mother on the phone, Derrick Estell jumped through the 12-inch-by-30-inch service window in the booking area of the old jail and fled to a waiting van driven by his girlfriend, Tamara Lynn Upshaw, 26, of Lonsdale, who had been staying with Glenda Estell.
Video of Estell's escape, captured by security cameras, was broadcast by national media outlets.
It was learned Upshaw had been parked in the alleyway between the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration revenue office building and the Hot Springs Senior Wellness Center in a 2005 Chevrolet minivan that was later found abandoned.
Garland County sheriff's investigators later listened to a phone call from Glenda Estell to her son, made three days before the escape, where she mentions Upshaw being in "that alley" and having Upshaw's "stepfather" go up there to put money on someone's books.
The minivan was reported stolen a short time later by its owner, William Craig Harding, 58, from his residence on Greenwood Avenue and recovered a short time later at Greenwood and Fourth Street. Harding was found walking in the area reportedly looking for the vehicle.
It was later learned Harding was dating the mother of Upshaw and that Harding was in the booking area at the time of Estell's escape, reportedly to put money on a relative's books.
Harding was questioned and initially claimed he didn't know who was driving the minivan, but later admitted Upshaw had taken it just before Estell's escape. Harding reportedly said Upshaw had called him and asked him to report the minivan stolen but didn't tell him why.
Harding was arrested the day of the escape and charged with assisting or furnishing implements of escape, but the charge was later withdrawn by prosecutors and never filed in circuit court.
Derrick Estell and Upshaw were located in rural Jay, Fla., on Aug. 22, 2013, at an abandoned house and taken into custody by an emergency response team from the Santa Rosa County sheriff's office and the U.S. Marshals Service's fugitive task force, acting on information provided by the Garland County sheriff's office.
Upshaw pleaded guilty March 9, 2015, to assisting in or furnishing an implement of escape and was sentenced to three years in prison, with her sentence to run concurrently with a three-year sentence she received after her probation from a 2012 conviction for theft by receiving was revoked after the incident with Estell.
Derrick Estell was arrested in Hot Springs on March 7, 2013, and accused of stealing a pickup at gunpoint and leading authorities on a pursuit that ended when he wrecked the pickup and fled into a residential area. He was taken into custody after a standoff at a local apartment building that night.
He was subsequently charged with aggravated robbery in connection with the March 1 armed robbery of Hot Springs Bank and Trust and other related charges.
He was set to appear Monday in circuit court on several of the local charges, but the case was continued until Jan. 25.
State Desk on 01/21/2016