Posted on 03/26/2016 1:31:03 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
John Saul Miller was dying of cancer when the convicted felon managed to commit two armed robberies last year after being pardoned by Virginia's governor.
When he was arrested after the second holdup -- the gunpoint robbery of a Walmart Neighborhood Market in Chesterfield County -- he was still wearing a GPS tracking device that he was required to wear as a condition of his pardon by Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
Miller, 29, who has since died, had asked for absolution of earlier crimes based on his medical diagnosis and declining health, and McAuliffe granted his request on June. 3.
But for reasons still unclear, Miller -- who was suffering from a terminal case of leukemia -- armed himself with a .38-caliber handgun and robbed the Walmart at 5700 Hopkins Road just four months later, on Oct. 5.
He was arrested a short time later after leading Chesterfield police on a pursuit and crashing his car on Chippenham Parkway near Belmont Road. Officers found money in Miller's possession and "throughout his vehicle," along with a .38-caliber Taurus, according to court records.
After Miller was taken into custody, a Virginia probation officer was called to cut off his GPS transmitter, which he wore as a condition of his pardon for three robbery-related convictions in Chesterfield in 2013. His pardon also was conditional on not possessing a firearm.
Miller was one of 41 people who received simple, conditional, medical or absolute pardons from McAuliffe between Jan. 15, 2015, and Jan. 8, 2016, according to the governor's annual report posted last week of the pardons, commutations, reprieves and other forms of clemency he granted.
The governor pardoned Miller, a former Little Caesar's employee, specifically for his March 2013 convictions of robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon in the February 2012 armed robbery of a Little Caesar's worker of a bag of money containing more than $1,000, according to court records. He split the proceeds with an accomplice.
Chesterfield Circuit Judge T.J. Hauler sentenced Miller to a total of 25 years in prison with all but 19 years and six months suspended, records show.
Miller, who had numerous other felony convictions, was also charged Nov. 10 with the Oct. 1 robbery of a Little Caesar's manager in a crime that was similar to the one for which he was pardoned.
"He went into the store in the morning, before Little Caesar's was open, and robbed the district manager who happened to just be there installing a credit card machine," said Richmond prosecutor Elizabeth Hobbs.
The Richmond holdup occurred four days before the Walmart robbery in Chesterfield.
The seven offenses for which Miller was charged in the Walmart robbery were dismissed last week after the court learned that Miller had died Feb. 18 while in corrections custody at VCU Medical Center. His attorney, Ashley Slone, said Miller had been very ill for several years with leukemia.
McAuliffe spokesman Brian Coy said Miller's pardon petition received a thorough vetting and met all eligibility requirements.
Prior to making the decision, the governor's office received input from Miller's sentencing judge, the commonwealth's attorney, chief of police, county sheriff and even the victim, who Coy said did not oppose Miller's release.
"Obviously we apply the same criteria to each of these petitions, and this one was not treated any differently and went through the same exhaustive process," Coy said.
Coy said the vetting process also included consulting with Miller's doctors at the facility where he was being held to assess his health.
Coy couldn't immediately say whether any other convicted person pardoned by the governor had subsequently been charged with any crimes.
After his pardon, Miller's adjustment to supervised probation "appeared to be satisfactory with the exception of several GPS violations" and his encounter with Chesterfield police following the Walmart robbery, a probation report in Miller's court file said.
"Mr. Miller had several GPS violations which were addressed at the time of the violations," the report said. "Mr. Miller went into a GPS Cuff Leave violation on the day of Oct. 5, 2015, which was the day of the Walmart robbery."
He thought “Breaking Bad” was a documentary.
Everything a democrat touches.......
Probably looking for ‘suicide by cop’.
McCauliffe is a bottom of the barrel little puke.
I’m surprised he didn’t kill anyone.
Terry “The Punk”.
He probably found out how terrible the medical care from Obamacare is and wanted to go back to prison.
“If he doesn’t go in and hold them up for pizza, how is he gonna eat?”
(BTW, Walmart is probably the worst possible risk to reward ratio places to hold up.)
Such a Target (not Walmart)-rich environment:
Journalism is laughable: “for reasons still unclear, Miller . . robbed the Walmart . . . “
Judges are also: “Chesterfield Circuit Judge T.J. Hauler sentenced Miller to a total of 25 years in prison with all but 19 years and six months suspended”
Politicians are ironic: “spokesman Brian Coy . . .”
And law enforcement is un-freaking-parodyable:
“After his pardon, Miller’s adjustment to supervised probation ‘appeared to be satisfactory with the exception of several GPS violations’ and his encounter with Chesterfield police following the Walmart robbery, a probation report in Miller’s court file said.
“ ‘Mr. Miller had several GPS violations which were addressed at the time of the violations,’ the report said. ‘Mr. Miller went into a GPS Cuff Leave violation on the day of Oct. 5, 2015, which was the day of the Walmart robbery.’ “
“Probably looking for ‘suicide by cop’.”
I’ll be his huckleberry, and I’m not even a cop.
Couldn’t afford a hospice and committed the second robbery after they failed to pick him up after the first.
“It’s what I do, dog!”
Seems like the governor should complete the balance of he sentence. Fairness and all.
He needed the money for the Obamacare copay and premiums.
The “why” is easy to figure out. He wasn’t able to make it on the outside and wanted to go back home to prison where he got everything taken care of for free. When the time came that the cancer was too much, there were nurses to wait on him and doctors to give him pain meds.
Some people just need their DNA erased permanently.
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