A convicted drug dealer briefly escaped custody Monday, marking the fourth courthouse escape in DeSoto County this year.

Stephen Russell Jr., 27, had just pleaded guilty to trafficking fentanyl and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. As sheriff’s deputies escorted him from the courthouse, Russell faked a medical emergency, fled on foot, and managed to drive away in a parked car—despite being restrained in handcuffs and a belly chain.

Russell’s freedom was short-lived. Deputies apprehended him less than a mile away in Hernando.

District Attorney Matthew Barton expressed frustration and vowed additional charges. “This individual’s actions put others in danger, and we will seek further penalties to ensure accountability,” Barton said in a statement.

Russell’s original conviction stemmed from a November 2020 case in which he sold fentanyl to a confidential informant. A subsequent search of his Horn Lake hotel room uncovered 144 fentanyl pills, a scale, a handgun, and marijuana.

This latest escape follows a pattern of security breaches in DeSoto County this year. In January, trustees Gene Dewayne Saulsberry and Moumen Rafat Mawlawi fled during a work project but were recaptured within weeks. In June, murder suspect Joshua Zimmerman was apprehended in Chicago after evading capture for more than two months.

County officials are likely to face increasing scrutiny over courthouse security protocols after yet another escape.