On August 19, 2011, Misskelley, along with Baldwin and Echols, entered an Alford plea. Judge David Laser then sentenced them to 18 years and 78 days, the amount of time they had served, and also levied a suspended sentence of 10 years. All three were released from prison that same day.[1] Since his release, Misskelley has become engaged to his high school girlfriend and enrolled in a community college to train as an auto mechanic.