Allen Leonard Morgan
Leonardtown, MD — A homeless man, who his attorney says is a drug addict and has mental health issues, has been sentenced to 18 years in jail. St. Mary’s County Circuit Court Judge Michael Stamm on Monday sentenced Allen Morgan, 51, after he had earlier pled guilty to Second-Degree Escape and Second- Degree Burglary.
Morgan has a long history of criminal activity including a number of thefts and escapes. According to his attorney, public defender Kevin Hill, Morgan had been estranged from his family and friends. Hill described Morgan as having no place to live, unemployed and with no benefit. Hill said Morgan “suffers from some form of mental illness that hasn’t been diagnosed and treated.”
Assistant States Attorney Ted Weiner said about a previous arrest: “I gave him a break. I apologize to the people of St. Mary’s County for doing so.” Weiner added, “The community needs a break for a period of time so he won’t be burglarizing.”
Weiner said the conclusion had to be drawn about Morgan that “at some point a person is not treatable.”
Judge Stamm noted that Morgan had been around the system for quite some time. “Your record is atrocious,” the judge concluded. But he added that he has been given hope for Morgan by the fact that this time Morgan is making no excuses for his behavior.
Morgan told the judge, “I don’t know why I do what I do.” He appeared before the judge with no family or friends in the courtroom, although Hill said that a family member had said she was going to be there.
Judge Stamm sentenced Morgan to 15 years on the burglary charge and three years on the escape change, to run consecutive. He gave him credit for the time he has been jailed since his most recent arrest.
Stamm did recommend that Morgan be committed to Patuxent Institution, a state penal facility with mental health counseling services available for inmates.