LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — Note: The video is from July 23
The man who pled guilty to kidnapping and killing 18-year-old Linda Stoltzfoos last year will serve the maximum sentence for violating his parole for a string of armed robberies and burglaries he committed in 2006, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office said Thursday.
Justo Smoker, 35, was sentenced to 17 years, five months, and 30 days -- the maximum time available for violating his parole -- by the Pennsylvania Parole Board, according to Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams.
Combined with the sentence he received for pleading guilty to the kidnapping and murder of Stoltzfoos, the Amish teen who was walking home from church on June 21, 2020 when she encountered him, Smoker will serve a minimum of 53 years in a state prison before he is eligible for parole, Adams said.
The law requires that Smoker must first serve the Board’s 17½ year parole sentence before he may begin to serve the 35½ year sentence he received on July 23, according to Adams.
“We are extremely pleased with the Board’s recent decision," Adams said in a press release. "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."
Smoker was originally sentenced to a prison term of 12½ 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, according to Adams.
While on parole and only 16 months after his release, Smoker kidnapped and murdered Stoltzfoos, whose body was not found until April 21, when Smoker directed law enforcement to the place where he buried her as part of his guilty plea agreement, which he made to avoid the death penalty, according to Adams.
Smoker was sentenced to 35½ to 71 years in prison in exchange for his guilty plea in Stoltzfoos' murder.
At Smoker's 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.”
Now that he will serve an additional 17 years for the parole violation, Smoker will be 87 years old before he is eligible to even be considered for parole, Adams said.
Prior to the Board’s decision, 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 said 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.