Arizona man sentenced to nearly 300 years for theft released from prison

PHOENIX (AZ family) — An Arizona man remains free 10 years after being sentenced to nearly 300 years in prison for theft.

On Thursday, Atdom Patsalis, 31, was released from the Arizona Department of Corrections after serving 10 years of a 292-year sentence for nonviolent theft of property.

The Arizona Justice Project (AJP) worked with Patsalis to help him file a commutation petition, which reduces the sentence for a crime. After years of fighting his conviction, the Arizona Clemency Board issued a rare executive pardon, allowing Patsalis to walk free from prison.

“This is the harshest sentence we’ve ever seen for this type of minor crime,” said Lindsey Herff of the Arizona Justice Project.

In 2013, Patsalis, then 21, was living in Bullhead City when the crimes occurred. Officers say he stole random items from homes, garages and vehicles over a 10-week period to trade for a place to sleep. He stole less than $6,000 worth of items.

On Thursday, 31-year-old Atdom Patsalis was fired from the Arizona Department of State... — On Thursday, Atdom Patsalis, 31, was released from the Arizona Department of Corrections after serving 10 years of a 292-year sentence for nonviolent theft of property.(ADCRR)

Patsalis was convicted of 25 burglary-related offences and sentenced to 292 years in prison.

Herff says AJP began working on Patsalis’ case in 2017.

“He was convicted, he was sentenced, he lost all his state appeals, and we represented him in federal court all the way to the Supreme Court and we lost,” she said.

AJP says the average time spent behind bars for similar crimes in Arizona is about five to seven years.

“We used the Hail Mary of the criminal justice system and filed a motion to have his sentence commuted or shortened. And Atdom went through the rigorous executive clemency process, and the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency voted to reduce his sentence to what is the normal sentence in Arizona for this type of crime, which is 10 years,” she explained. “The judge decided to extend and stack each sentence on each count, one after the other, to get 292 years.”

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