JESSUP, Md. (AP) – Officials have turned down a request for early release from former Episcopal bishop who struck and killed a cyclist while driving drunk in Baltimore.
Maryland Parole Commission Chairman David Blumberg said Tuesday that Heather Cook’s request for early release has been refused outright.
Cook, once the second-highest-ranking Episcopal leader in Maryland, pleaded guilty in October of 2015 to manslaughter, drunken driving and leaving the scene. She has been serving a seven-year sentence.
She struck and killed 41-year-old cyclist Tom Palermo on Dec. 27, 2014. She left the scene for 30 minutes before returning, and her blood alcohol level was 0.22 – far higher than the legal limit of 0.08.
Cook, who was the first female bishop in her diocese, had previously been arrested for drunken driving in 2010.
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