Convicted attempted murderer granted parole in Sacramento, causing outrage among victims and officials
SACRAMENTO -- Convicted attempted murderer Kyle D. Frank may soon be let out of prison after being granted parole in his initial suitability hearing.
Frank, who received a 90-year sentence for his involvement in four drive-by shootings in 2009, served just 15 years before his hearing.
On August 22, 2009, Paul Adcock was driving home on Interstate 80 when he glanced over to the car on his right to see Frank yelling a racial slur at him. Adock sped away but was eventually caught up to before he heard gunshots.
"My side view window shattered. I hear bullets off to the side of my passenger side, and I realized this guy just unloaded his gun on the freeway," Adcock said.
His car was hit six times and, miraculously, Adcock was not injured. Over the next few weeks, Frank would do the same thing in three other drive-by shootings on the highway. All of those victims would be Hispanic, and some incidents involved children. No one was killed in those shootings, but Frank was later convicted and sentenced to 90 years in prison, until now.
"To hear that he is being released so soon is very disappointing and I am wondering how this occurred," Adcock said.
State law requires violent offenders to serve at least 85% of their sentence before they are eligible for parole. When Frank was convicted in 2011, that was the district attorney's understanding as they believed he would serve at least 76 years.
However, a 2016 law expanded youth offender parole hearings to people under the age of 23. Frank was 22 when he committed the crimes. Therefore, he is now considered a youthful offender although he is now 39 years old.
"We tried that case and told the victims, 'You don't have to worry. This person will die in prison and never get the chance to come out.' We can't keep that promise now because the parole board is letting him out," Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho said.
Ho's office also said records show Frank was associated with the Aryan Brotherhood and committed multiple assaults while in prison.
The parole board has 120 days to make their final review. From there, it heads to the governor's office for the final decision. That could take up to another 30 days.