HUTCHINSON, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka man who is serving more than 20 years for multiple burglaries and thefts has pleaded no contest to aggravated escape for walking away from prison in August.

The Hutchinson News reports 45-year-old Mark Lucas entered his plea Tuesday and will be sentenced in January.

Lucas was discovered missing after a 12:30 p.m. head count at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility on Aug. 3. He was captured three days later in Topeka.

Lucas claimed at a June hearing that he walked away because his daughter was suicidal and he was trying to help her.

He was convicted in five separate cases in Shawnee County in 2012 on multiple counts of aggravated burglary and theft. He also served prison time in 1994 for aggravated burglary and in 2003 for theft.