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<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#473d3e"><strong>Kentucky killer pardoned by governor months after his family raised over $20,000 for reelection campaign is convicted of same murder in federal court </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#473d3e"><strong>Patrick Baker, 43, was pardoned by former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin as Bevin left office in 2019 </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#473d3e"><strong>Months earlier, Baker&#8217;s family raised over $21,000 for Bevin&#8217;s reelection </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#473d3e"><strong>Baker was convicted on a state charge of reckless homicide when he killed Donald Mills, 29, during a home invasion drug robbery in 2014 </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#473d3e"><strong>After the pardon, federal prosecutors brought charges for the same murder which was possible because it&#8217;s not double jeopardy since the charges were brought by different levels of prosecutors </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#473d3e"><strong>The &#8216;dual sovereignty doctrine&#8217; allows state and federal officials to prosecute the same defendant for the same actions </strong><br><strong>Baker could face up to life in prison, after prosecutors decided against seeking the death penalty </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#473d3e"><strong>He was jailed 19 years in 2017, but Bevin&#8217;s pardon erased the conviction and sentence </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#473d3e"><strong>Before commencement of the federal trial the judge ruled that details of the pardon were not admissible as evidence </strong></h2>



<h2 class="has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style="color:#473d3e"><strong>Baker&#8217;s lawyer said they will appeal the guilty verdict</strong></h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Patrick-Baker-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-388173" width="744" height="909"/><figcaption>Patrick Baker, who was pardoned by a Kentucky governor who had political ties with, was convicted of the same murder in federal court. ;</figcaption></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Patrick-Baker-3.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-388180"/><figcaption><strong> Patrick Baker, [right] who in 2019 was pardoned by a Kentucky governor matt Bevin [left], with whom he had political ties Wednesday was convicted in a federal court of the same crime &#8211; the 2014 murder of a drug dealer </strong></figcaption></figure>



<p>A killer pardoned by the former GOP governor of Kentucky, Matt Bevin, after his family raised funds for the lawmaker&#8217;s re-election campaign has been convicted of the same murder in a federal court. ; ; <br>After more than six hours of deliberation, over two days, an Eastern Kentucky jury Wednesday found Patrick Baker guilty on a federal charge of murdering a drug dealer during a robbery seven years ago. <br>Baker, 43, was pardoned by then Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin in 2019, months after the Republican lost his bid to be re-elected for a second term in office. ; </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Matt-Bevin-forgives-Patrick-Baker-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-388176" width="841" height="475"/><figcaption> <strong>Former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin [right], pardoned Patrick Baker [left], in 2019. Baker&#8217;s family who are politically connected to the governor, raised nearly $26,000 for his failed reelection campaign </strong> </figcaption></figure>



<p>Baker killed Donald Mills, a known drug dealer, during a dispute in 2014, prosecutors said. Baker&#8217;s defense however, has maintained that a different man killed Mills and pushed the blame on their client. <br>Furthermore, Baker who is now convicted on federal charges did not have the shelter of double jeopardy laws banning a person from being tried for the same crime twice, because the 2017 conviction was on state charges. <br>The &#8216;dual sovereignty doctrine&#8217; allows state and federal officials to prosecute the same defendant for the same actions without infringing on double jeopardy protections. <br>Baker&#8217;s lawyer, Louisville attorney Steve Romines, said he would appeal. <br>&#8216;We felt there was evidence that should have been admitted that was not,&#8217; he said in a post conviction interview. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Matt-Bevin-3.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-388174" width="833" height="543"/><figcaption><strong>Kentucky&#8217;s outgoing governor Matt Bevin called the evidence against Baker &#8216;sketchy,&#8217; though the governor did not mention his ties to Baker&#8217;s family. Bevin dished out the pardon despite the Kentucky Court of Appeals upholding Baker’s conviction in 2018, in a unanimous ruling that &#8216;Baker’s guilt was overwhelming&#8217; </strong></figcaption></figure>



<p>Baker&#8217;s release from prison in 2019 came just months after Gov. Matt Bevin&#8217;s unsuccessful run for a second term, which Baker&#8217;s family raised $21,500 for donated thousands more, the Courier Journal reported. <br>The murderer&#8217;s brother and and sister-in-law also gave $4,000 to Bevin’s campaign on the day of the fundraiser. Baker said his family&#8217;s donations and ties to the governor had no impact on Bevin&#8217;s decision to pardoned Baker on his way out the door in 2019. <br>Bevin called the evidence against Baker &#8216;sketchy,&#8217; though the former governor did not mention his ties to Baker&#8217;s family. <br>He also claimed Baker&#8217;s &#8216;drug addictions&#8217; had led him to fall in with the wrong people, and further muddied the waters of the case against him. <br>He pardoned Baker despite the Kentucky Court of Appeals upholding Baker’s conviction in 2018, a year before his release. In a unanimous ruling, the justices wrote that &#8216;there can be no doubt, on review of the proof as a whole, evidence of Baker’s guilt was overwhelming.&#8217; <br>During his final month of office, Bevin pardoned or commuted the sentences of 428 people, including 336 mostly white drug offenders. <br>He also pardoned prisoners convicted of serious crimes such as murder, manslaughter, and rape. <br>Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers has since called for the US Attorney&#8217;s Office to investigate the spate of pardons</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Patrick-Baker-1.jpg" alt="This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Patrick-Baker-1.jpg" width="829" height="1013"/><figcaption><strong>Convicted &#8211; Pardoned &#8211; Convicted:</strong> <strong>After his 2017 conviction, Baker [photo], was sentenced to 19 years in prison, but Bevin&#8217;s pardon released him and erased the conviction</strong>. <strong>KIt was one of 428 people Bevin pardoned on his way out, mostly white murderers, rapists and drug dealers. Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers has called for the US Attorney&#8217;s Office to investigate the spate of pardons</strong> </figcaption></figure>



<p>In the trial’s opening arguments federal prosecutors said Baker killed Mills, a 29-year-old drug dealer in Knox County, in 2014 while trying to rob him of cash and pain pills.<br>Baker targeted the drug dealer because he thought the man wouldn’t be able to report the robbery, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenna Reed said. <br>Reed said Baker knew Mills had pills at his house, and bought plastic handcuffs at a store before invading the drug dealer&#8217;s home. <br>Baker, said he did not kill Mills and said his family “did not pay for my release” from prison.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Patrick-Baker-2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-388175" width="842" height="1130"/><figcaption><strong>Victim: In 2017 Baker was convicted of killing Donald Mills [photo] in 2014, while he was trying to rob the drug dealer. Mills&#8217; pregnant wife and children were held at gunpoint while Baker ransacked the victims&#8217; home for oxycodone pills,</strong></figcaption></figure>



<p>After Wednesday&#8217;s guilty verdict, U.S. District Judge Claria Horn Boom said, &#8216;At its core, this case was about one thing: Patrick Baker´s role in the death of Donald Mills. <br>Having heard the evidence, the jury found him guilty.&#8217; <br>Prosecutors declined to seek the death penalty, but Baker could serve life in prison on the conviction. <br>Sentencing is scheduled for December. <br>He was convicted of reckless homicide in Mills&#8217; death in state court in 2017 while posing as a federal agent trying to rob him of cash and pain pills. Mills&#8217; pregnant wife and children were held at gunpoint while Baker ransacked the victims&#8217; home for oxycodone pills, according to the U.S. Attorney. <br>Evidence at the trial including shell casings tied to Baker&#8217;s pistol and surveillance video showing Baker buying handcuff restraints hours before the killing. <br>He was sentenced to 19 years in prison, but Bevin&#8217;s pardon released him and erased the conviction. </p>

