Toms River shoe store holdup artist sentenced – again

The thief who held up a Toms River shoe store in 1999, served 15 years for it, then went back and did it again to the same clerk the day after he was paroled, returns to prison for 16 years.

Christopher Miller, 41, will be required to serve 85 percent of the time before parole consideration under New Jersey's No Early Release Act, according to information from the office of Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato. Prosecutors sought a 20-year sentence with the No Early Release Act stipulation.

Miller pleaded guilty on March 9 of this year, just short of a year since his March 22, 2014 arrest for the armed robbery of the Stride Rite shop. The clerk, who had been notified that Miller was being paroled, identified him for police when they arrived.

Miller's first sentence applied to the shore store robbery and two others in a three-day span, authorities said.