Sentencing is planned for September for a Juneau man who eluded police officers for several months until he was caught and arrested with what appeared to be a bag of drugs in his mouth.
The 35-year sentence is the absolute maximum — it could be less — that would be handed down for 32-year old Rorie Christopher Miller. And it wouldn’t be just for one charge. It’d be for several.
Miller changed his plea to guilty in Juneau Superior Court on Tuesday on evidence tampering and drug possession charges. One of those pending drug charges stemmed from the sale of two oxycontin pills to an undercover buyer behind Glacier Cinemas. The last-minute change of plea averted a trial that was to get underway this week.
Other charges — including for perjury — were dropped as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. It included revocation of Miller’s probation from an earlier case that included robbery and weapons charges. Miller had walked away from a half-way house and broke off contact with his probation officer.
Miller had eluded office for several months in early 2010 which led Juneau Police to believe that friends were helping to hide him.
Miller was taken in custody in July of 2010 near Dzantiki Heeni Middle School after a foot chase that ended with the firing of a taser. Emergency medical technicians were dispatched to the scene to remove the taser barbs and what appeared to be a packet or baggies lodged in his throat. Those baggies were later determined to contain heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana.
