Reports that Jared Michael Williams was on probation when he allegedly killed three people in Pelzer were mistaken, but mainly in the way they were stated. Peter O’Boyle, Public Information Director for the State Parole and Probation Office clarified the facts in a telephone interview and follow-up e-mail with The Journal.
“Jared Williams was not on probation. In 1996, South Carolina abolished probation for those committing violent crimes. Instead, they substituted the community supervision program, which states that a violent offender must serve at least eighty five per cent of their sentence before they can be released. Unless they commit additional offenses while in prison, they usually are released.”
According to O’Boyle, Williams was convicted of Armed robbery in 2004 and sentenced to ten years. He served eight and a half years of that sentence and was released on November 30, 2012. Probation is a separate sentence altogether.
“Straight’ probation is sometimes given to non-violent, first-time offenders, or added on to a prison sentence for more serious crimes,” O’Boyle said. “That was not the case here, as Williams did about eight years of his armed robbery sentence before coming out on CS.”
“He was on Community Supervision, which is the last 15 percent of a person convicted of a violent crime’s sentence. In Williams’ case, he was in the last few months of his CS sentence for armed robbery, which would have ended on June 24 of this year,” said O’Boyle.
