By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Two Atmore men — one of them convicted for the third time of carrying a pistol after having previously been convicted of a violent felony — were rejected for parole during recent hearings by the Alabama Board of Pardons & Paroles.
Robert Chad Hazley has served just over eight months of a 20-year sentence he received earlier this year after he was convicted on two counts of possession of a pistol after having been previously convicted of a violent felony.
Prison is no strange land for Hazley, who is serving his fifth stretch in state custody since 1998.
He served almost two years of a 5-year sentence he received in 2020 after he was convicted on two counts of the same crime and served all of a 3-year penalty he received in 2015, also for illegally possessing a pistol.
Hazley, currently housed at Elmore Correctional Facility, was sentenced in 2009 to serve 15 years after his conviction on two counts of possession of a controlled substance and one count of second-degree theft. He served roughly 4-1/2 years and was released when he was given credit for 10 years, 4 months and 20 days of “good time.”
He got another break after his 1998 conviction and 10-year sentence for second-degree assault. He accumulated 5 years and 10 days of “good time” and was released after having served a few days less than 5 years.
His minimum release date without parole or a pardon is April 30, 2033.
Neither information nor a mugshot was available from Alabama Department of Corrections or Escambia County Detention Center records for inmate Anthony Gee, who was also passed over for parole.
No details of his arrest or conviction could be found online. Usually, when that is the case, it is due to the conviction having been issued under provisions of the state’s Youthful Offender Act, which prohibits the publishing of the inmate’s photo or conviction. Gee reportedly qualified for such protection.