Man who drove off Gilmerton Bridge gets 12 years for ID theft

NORFOLK

The day Michael C. Mills drove off the Gilmerton Bridge stands as a stark metaphor for his life.

The convicted sex offender was on the run from police that day. He was armed and had told a friend he would go down shooting. He went down all right, but not shooting.

When police fished him out of the Elizabeth River, they had four warrants waiting for him. Later, after discovering piles of mail in his possession, postal inspectors charged him with mail theft, identity theft and being a felon with a gun.

Mills, 39, was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to those three charges. U.S. District Judge Henry Coke Morgan Jr. agreed with the government's request that he get more time than sentencing guidelines recommended.

"I'm terribly sorry for all the trouble I've caused," Mills told the judge.

"I'm not a bad person. I made some bad decisions. I'm sorry for that. I'm truly, truly sorry," he said.

Mills has been in and out of jails and prison since he was a young man. He was convicted in 1993 of statutory rape, and after getting out of prison he was arrested and convicted numerous times for passing bad checks and obtaining money by false pretenses. He'll face additional state prison time for violating parole, authorities said.

Mills admitted in court to a three-month crime spree last summer involving stealing mail and cashing forged and stolen checks. He had been out of prison only about four months.

Postal Inspector Dustin Holland said Mills began stealing mail in the Blackwater and King James Colony sections of Chesapeake last June. He would find blank checks, forge them and cash them, or he would steal someone's identity, create a false ID card and cash checks in that person's name, Holland said.

Mills burglarized one Chesapeake home, stealing jewelry and pawning it, Holland said during testimony Thursday at Mills' sentencing hearing.

Mills used the proceeds to rent hotel rooms and buy drugs, including heroin and crack, that he gave to his girlfriend and to an 18-year-old girl, Holland said.

The girlfriend told authorities that Mills pistol-whipped her in a hotel room and threatened to "pump 24 rounds into her," Holland said.

The hotel manager called 911 after the girl came running out of the room screaming, " 'He's going to kill me! He's going to kill me,' " Holland said. They left before police arrived.

Mills knew the police had warrants for his arrest. He told his girlfriend, " 'I'm not going back to prison. I'm going down shooting,' " Holland said.

He was driving his girlfriend's car, with a gun behind him, on Sept. 9 when police tried to pull him over on Military Highway. Mills led them on a high-speed chase that ended when he tried to jump over the open span of the Gilmerton Bridge.

"Mr. Mills was recovered from the Elizabeth River?" Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Krask asked Holland.

"That's correct," Holland said.

"Mr. Mills is lucky to be alive," Morgan said. "He's also lucky he didn't hurt anyone else."

Morgan also ordered Mills to repay the $39,000 he stole in the scheme.

Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com