Correctional staff from Wake County and local law enforcement began their search for Larry Locklear after he escaped while on a work assignment.
The 66-year-old was a minimum custody inmate serving a sentence at Wake Correctional Center as a habitual felon.
His projected release date was October 2021.
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Authorities were focusing their search efforts near the women's prison in southeast Raleigh, near I-40 and Rock Quarry Road.
Locklear was apprehended just outside of Four Oaks in Johnston County without incident, according to officials.