Feds arrest man pardoned by ex-Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin

Patrick Baker, the man whom then-Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) pardoned in 2019 after being convicted of reckless homicide, was arrested again on Sunday in connection with the same death he was previously found guilty for.

The Louisville Courier Journal reported that the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Baker, 43, on Sunday. He is being held at the Laurel County Correctional Center.

Baker was arrested and charged with murder. He allegedly killed a man during a robbery and kidnapping related to drug trafficking, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

The indictment accuses Baker of committing a robbery and kidnapping in May 2014, during which Donald Mills was killed by use of a firearm and “a quantity of pills containing oxycodone were taken.”

Baker’s court appearance was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

Baker was convicted of reckless homicide, first-degree robbery, tampering with evidence and impersonating a police officer in 2017 in connection with the death of Millis, who was killed in front of his wife and three children during a home invasion in 2014, according to the Courier Journal.

He only served two years of a 19-year sentence before being released.

While the correction center does not list the charges Baker was detained for, Melinda Mills, the sister of Donald Mills, told the Courtier Journal that a federal agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reached out on Monday morning to inform her that Baker was again arrested in connection with her brother’s death.

Melinda Mills thanked a number of individuals in a statement to the Courier Journal, including state Sen. Morgan McGarvey (D) and former state Rep. Chris Harris (D), both of whom urged federal authorities to probe Bevin’s pardon of Baker after the newspaper reported that Baker’s family hosted a campaign fundraiser at their home in 2018 that raised $21,500 for the governor.

That money helped clear Bevin’s debt from his 2015 gubernatorial campaign. Baker and his wife donated $4,000 to Bevin’s campaign the day of the fundraiser.

“We knew corruption was involved with the former pardon of Patrick Baker,” Melinda Mills told the newspaper. “He knows he’s guilty so does everybody else.”

The Hill reached out to Bevin for comment.

Updated 4:47 p.m.