Neal Augenstein, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Convicted sniper Lee Boyd Malvo’s hope of pleading guilty to unsolved murders in return for moving from his current home in a Virginia prison has been rejected by a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge, WTOP has learned.
After being convicted and sentenced in Virginia, Malvo pleaded guilty to six Montgomery County murders, testified against his partner, John Allen Muhammad, and was sentenced to six life sentences in Maryland. He is currently incarcerated at Red Onion Prison, in Pound, Va.
Before sentencing in 2006, Malvo’s attorney William Brennan told the judge he wanted to “reach a global resolution to Mr. Malvo’s legal problems,” which would have included testimony about other shootings.
The global plea was orchestrated by then-Montgomery County State’s Attorney Doug Gansler, who is now Maryland’s attorney general.
Under Gansler’s plan, Malvo would have pleaded guilty to the Oct. 3, 2002 murder of Pascal Charlot in Washington, D.C. Federal prosecutors handle murder cases, so a plea agreement could have moved Malvo from the state prison to a federal facility.
Time ran out.
In a two paragraph order, Judge Robert Greenberg wrote court rules forbid revising a sentence more than five years after it was imposed.
Malvo was sentenced Nov. 9, 2006.
At the time, Virginia prosecutors were opposed to the idea of a global plea.
Sources familiar with the case say Virginia prosecutors remain opposed.
When told of the ruling by WTOP, Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert said Malvo “committed heinous crimes here and elsewhere and should never see the street again and should continue to be held where he is right now in Red Onion.”
Ebert prosecuted Muhammad in Virginia Beach where the convicted sniper was sentenced to death. Malvo was prosecuted by now-retired Fairfax County prosecutor Robert Horan.
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(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)
