The whole area is a $h!thole. Eckert has a rapsheet and isn't smart enough to get out. I'd be willing to bet if he manages to squeeze a big settlement out of this he'll be in trouble with the law again in short order. (Drug related)
IF, and note that I said IF, he is on parole they will not allow him to get out.
Whose smarter?
The guy who wants to leave an area that he is not wanted, where all his old contacts that helped lead him astray still live, who is on the local PD's literal Sh!t list, who the local PD selectively harasses, who wants a new life elsewhere.
Or the system that won't let him leave no matter how undesirable he is to them?