A Texas man who was given a second chance after his life sentence on drug charges was commuted by then-President Barack Obama may once again be spending years behind bars after being caught with more than 2 pounds of cocaine following a high-speed chase, the New York Post reports.
Robert Gill, 68, had been in prison since 1990 for cocaine and heroin distribution before Obama gave him a second chance, setting him free with other nonviolent offenders in 2015. However, on Thursday, Gill allegedly backpedaled, meeting with probation officers and then going to the parking lot of a food market to buy more than 2 pounds of cocaine.
According to an affidavit, Gill met with a person who gave him a black backpack, which he put in his car. A sheriff’s deputy in an unmarked car tried to stop him, but Gill sped off, leading to a high-speed chase that ended when he collided with another vehicle.
Officers discovered the cocaine in the backpack and arrested him.
Gill reportedly “related that he was going to sell the cocaine to make money and would be paying a female $26,000 for a cocaine,” the affidavit said.
“I’m so disappointed to hear that he got arrested again,” Ronald Schmidt, a lawyer who helped Gill appeal his life sentence in courts, told the San Antonio Express, the Post notes.
Gill has since been charged with possession with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and is being held without bail. He faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted, the Post notes.
Read more at the New York Post.