The Pennsylvania Parole Board recently recommitted Justo Smoker, the man responsible for the kidnapping and murder of 18-year-old Linda Stoltzfoos, to his unexpired balance on a parole violation from a string of armed robberies and burglaries committed in 2006.  The Board sentenced Smoker to serve 17 years, 5 months and 30 days – the maximum time available for violating his parole.  Combined with the sentence he received for the kidnapping and murder of Linda Stoltzfoos, Smoker will serve a minimum of at least 53 years in a state correctional facility before becoming eligible for parole.  The law requires that Smoker must first serve the Board’s 17 ½ year parole sentence before he may begin to serve the 35 ½ year sentence he received on July 23, 2021. 

“We are extremely pleased with the Board’s recent decision.  It is clear that they agreed that Mr. Smoker is a predator and represents a clear danger to the community and deserves to be incarcerated for as long as legally possible,” District Attorney Adams said. 

Smoker was originally sentenced to a term of incarceration of 12 ½ to 30 years for several robberies and burglaries that he committed when he was 20 years-old and was paroled in 2019 after serving his minimum sentence.  While on parole and only 16 months after his release, Smoker kidnapped and brutally murdered 18-year-old Linda Stoltzfoos.  Smoker pled guilty to the kidnapping and murder of Stoltzfoos and was sentenced to 35 ½ to 71 years in prison.  At his sentencing, First Assistant District Attorney Todd Brown explained, “This sentence is specifically structured in a way that practically ensures that Smoker will never be released and amounts to the functional equivalent of a life sentence.”  With the Board now having made their decision of recommitting Smoker to over 17 years, Smoker will be 87 years old before he is eligible to even be considered for parole by the Board again.

Prior to the Board’s decision, District Attorney Heather L. Adams advocated for a maximum sentence.  In a letter to the Board, Adams wrote, “On behalf of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the interests of the safety of the residents of Lancaster County, and in honor of the memory of Linda Stoltzfoos, I respectfully implore the Board to incarcerate Mr. Smoker for the entire remainder of his parole.  In this case, there is absolutely nothing that would support the parole of Justo Smoker; in fact, paroling Smoker would unquestionably endanger the community.”  Adams supported her position pointing out that Smoker has been committing serious, violent crimes – many against the Amish community – since he was 15 years old with each crime escalating in severity.  Accordingly, she concluded that “his abhorrent conduct, specifically while on parole, and past failures at rehabilitation demonstrate that he is a danger to the community and must be incapacitated for as long as legally possible.”

Adams noted that the Board’s decision was exactly the outcome that prosecutors had planned for when structuring the plea agreement in exchange for the recovery of Stoltzfoos’ remains.  “We brought Linda home to her family, we secured a murder conviction against Smoker, and now we can confirm that he will never be able to harm another member of our community again – justice truly has been served,” Adams said.