RALEIGH, N.C. (WGHP) – The North Carolina Parole Commission is planning to release yet another inmate who has been serving a life sentence for second-degree murder.
Steven O. Alexander, now 68, was sentenced to life plus another 40 years consecutively on related charges and two other concurrent stints after his conviction nearly 28 years ago in Guilford County Superior Court.
But Alexander will be released on July 15, 2024, by the Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission under its Mutual Agreement Parole Program, which is for criminals convicted before Oct. 1, 1994, when state law prohibited parole.
Alexander is at least the fourth inmate from the Piedmont Triad to be designated or granted parole under this program in the past six months.
Details of Alexander’s crimes were not easily located, but his conviction on Aug. 25, 1994, was the final prosecution of a 4-year run of crimes across at least three counties that included two revocations of parole for violating his probation.
Long history
Alexander first was given a suspended sentence in Surry County in December 1990 on one count of felony indecent liberty with a child, and he again was given probation in Stokes County less than a year later, on Nov. 18, 1991, on three counts of larceny and one of receiving stolen goods, all felonies.
That conviction did cause his probation in Surry County to be revoked, and he served about 15 months for the indecent liberty charges, from November 1991 to January 1993, and remained on probation for the larceny charges.
But that 10-year sentence was implemented when his probation was revoked following his conviction on second-degree murder in Guilford County. That life sentence was accompanied by a 40-year consecutive sentence for two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon.
And there was another 14-year concurrent sentence on another charge of robbery with a dangerous weapon and attempting to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon.
So Alexander was sentenced to and/or served four separate prison terms (not counting the indecent liberty stint) on that day in August 1994. He was given credit for serving 4 years and 4 months of that robbery sentence and 3 years and 9 months on the revoked probation.
The program
The state’s release says that MAPP is a “scholastic and vocational program” that is a 3-way agreement among the commission, the Division of Prisons and the offender.
To be part of the MAPP program, an inmate must show a desire to improve educational and training programs and a self-improvement process. There is a 3-year walk-up to release that, the MAPP website states, requires the inmate:
- To be in medium or minimum custody.
- Not to be subject to a detainer or pending court action that could result in further confinement.
- To be infraction-free for a period of 90 days before being recommended.
- If sentenced under the Fair Sentencing Act, to be eligible for 270-day parole or community-service parole.
Alexander most recently has been housed in the Orange Correctional Center in Hillsborough. He has been charged with five infractions while in custody, two for having unauthorized funds and one each for misuse of phone/mail, gambling and disobeying an order.
The commission will accept your questions if you call 919-716-3010.
