TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Rick Scott is rejecting a request to release from prison a central Florida man jailed for firing a warning shot.
Scott on Wednesday refused a clemency plea from the family of Orville Lee Wollard. Wollard is serving a 20-year prison term for firing his gun inside his Polk County house to scare his daughter's boyfriend.
The governor and members of the Cabinet considered the request during a meeting of the state's executive clemency board.
Wollard's case was cited by legislators as one reason to change Florida's 10-20-Life law.
That's the 1999 law that requires anyone who shows a gun while committing certain felonies to be sentenced to 10 years in prison. If someone is shot and wounded, the sentence increases to 25 years to life.
Scott earlier this year signed into law a measure that allows an exception to the law for warning shots.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
