A former Harford County councilman will spend up to 11 months in jail after pleading guilty last week to drug possession charges.
Lance Clifton Miller, 45, of the 1900 block of Trappe Church Road in Darlington, pleaded guilty in Harford County Circuit Court on March 23 to drug possession with intent to distribute.
Other charges Miller had faced, including possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia and maintaining a common nuisance by distributing drugs, were dropped by the Harford County State's Attorney's Office.
Retired Harford County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Marshall sentenced Miller to five years in jail and suspended all but 11 months, which he will start serving April 23 at 7 p.m. Miller will be credited for six days he served after his arrest and is eligible for work release, according to court records.
Upon his release, he will be on supervised probation for four years.
Miller's lawyer, Kevin Mahoney, said Miller will be able to continue to work at the Baltimore County restaurant where he is employed.
"He took full responsibility for his actions, he said what he did was wrong and knew there would be a price to pay for it," Mahoney said Tuesday. "He stood up and didn't drag everybody through a long and difficult trial."
Miller's former position as a county councilman probably "didn't help" with his sentencing, Mahoney said.
Lawyers often argue that defendants in criminal cases "come from bad homes, a bad environment," he noted.
"He didn't have that argument. Sometimes there is the tendency to be a little more harsh on someone, who, for lack of a better term, should have known better," Mahoney said.
Assistant State's Attorney H. Scott Lewis said Tuesday he was pleased with the sentence Miller received from Marshall.
"I had asked for a year. The judge only reduced it by a month, so I was satisfied with the plea," Lewis said.
Miller, a Republican and a member of a prominent northern Harford farm family, served eight years on the Harford County Council from 1998 to 2006.
Lewis said Miller was not treated any differently because of his former position.
"His sentence was within what is normally imposed in these types of cases," he said.
Miller was indicted Nov. 12 by a Harford County grand jury after more than two pounds of marijuana were found in his possession in late September. He had been under investigation by the Harford County Task Force, according to court records.
The marijuana was divided into seven bags that were found Sept. 30, 2014 at a house in the 2200 block of Old Quaker Bottom Road in Darlington, "which was used for the purposes of the illegal manufacturing, distribution, storage and concealment of controlled dangerous substances," according to charging documents.
Miller had told investigators he was not selling the marijuana from his home, according to prosecutor Lewis. The prosecutor continued, however, pointing out that Miller was living in Darlington at the time of the investigation, "which meant he was out in the community distributing the marijuana."
Miller graduated from Havre de Grace High School in 1987 and from Towson University in 1994. In addition to his county council service, he is a former member of the Darlington Community Council.
