A 22-year-old man who hijacked a school bus at knife-point last year in Jacksonville accepted a 55-year prison sentence Thursday, the equivalent of five years for each of the 11 elementary-school-age children on the bus at the time.
Nicholas John "Nick" Miller of Jacksonville pleaded guilty to 11 counts of kidnapping in an appearance before Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herb Wright, said deputy prosecutor Barbara Mariani. She said Miller will have to serve almost 14 years before he is eligible for parole. Miller cannot appeal the sentence.
The plea agreement allows the children to avoid the stress of having to testify in a trial, Mariani said. The prosecutor said she discussed the sentencing arrangement with the children's parents and the "hero" bus driver, Sheila Hart, before Thursday's hearing.
Mariani praised Hart for keeping her composure during the 50-minute ordeal on Oct. 17 that began when Miller got on the bus with a knife at the bus stop.
"The bus driver does a really good job of keeping him calm," Mariani said, describing the hijacking from video recorded by the bus security camera. "They [the children] were lucky to have her."
Hart, a Pulaski County Special School District driver for more than 20 years who has been recognized for her heroism by the city and the district, also consoled the frightened, crying children, the prosecutor said.
The only time Hart ever appeared strained -- out of fear for the children's safety -- was when Miller took over driving the bus and ran red lights and stop signs, although he didn't exceed the speed limit, Mariani said.
Miller was "extremely" intoxicated on drugs, with blood tests showing that he was under the influence of methamphetamine and marijuana, the prosecutor said. She said Miller briefly showed the knife to Hart before putting it on the dashboard.
He eventually stopped the bus after seeing police placing spike strips on the roadway, allowing the children to leave before raising his hands and surrendering to police, she said.
During the ordeal, Miller told Hart and the children that he could not stop because he was afraid that someone on the back of the bus was out to get him, Mariani said. Miller also warned the children against using drugs, using himself as an example, she said.
Miller was suffering "drug-induced psychosis" from his use of methamphetamine and couldn't control himself or tell right from wrong, his lawyer said, citing the report of the state doctor who examined Miller under a court order to determine whether he was competent to stand trial.
"It's sad. He was hallucinating. He thought people were out to get him. He still believes that," said attorney Birc Morledge. "He was not out to hurt those kids. He deeply regrets what happened, for scaring them and upsetting their parents."
In the plea deal negotiated by Morledge and attorney Patrick Benca, prosecutors dropped two aggravated robbery charges and reduced the severity of the kidnapping charges from Class Y felonies, which carry a potential life sentence, to Class B felonies, which carry up to 20 years in prison.
"I think prosecutors treated him very fairly," Morledge said. "If it wasn't for the drugs, I don't think this would have ever happened."
According to police reports, relatives said Miller had been complaining that morning that people were out to kill him and that he wanted to get a car and leave town.
He fled from family members who had been trying to calm him. About 7:15 a.m., he approached Karlena Lipari in the 1000 block of North First Street where she was with her daughter waiting for the school bus.
He demanded at knife-point that she give him her car, but Lipari told him she didn't have a car so Miller got on the Pinewood Elementary school bus, which had just arrived. Lipari called police and kept other children from getting on the bus.
Miller threatened Hart with the knife, but when she wouldn't drive the bus in the direction he wanted to go, he took over driving, according to police reports.
Authorities said Miller drove about 11.5 miles at speeds between 30 mph and 50 mph before surrendering at Arkansas 5 and Mountain Springs Road to officers from Jacksonville and Cabot Police Departments and Arkansas State Police.
Miller has been jailed since his arrest that day. He has a previous conviction for felony breaking or entering for burglarizing a pickup on Hampton Cove in Jacksonville and stealing a Remington 870 pump shotgun about five months before the bus hijacking. Authorities found the weapon belonging to Michael Payne at a home in Ward and arrested Miller near Cabot after he fled the residence, court files show.
Miller told police that he and a friend, Dallas Kelloms, were in the neighborhood looking for unlocked vehicles when they came across Payne's unlocked 2011 GMC Sierra and found the gun inside.
In June 2011, he legally changed his name to Nicholas John Miller from Nicholas George Pore, taking the surname of his biological father, court filings show.
A section on 05/23/2014