NORFOLK, Va. (AP) _ A lawyer has filed a new conditional pardon petition for an inmate serving six life terms plus 118 years for a home invasion robbery he committed as a juvenile. The Virginian-Pilot reports (http://bit.ly/1sa1KCl ) that attorney John Goggeshall is asking Gov. Terry McAuliffe to reduce Travion Blount’s prison term to between 10 and 15 years. Goggeshall argues that Blount’s current sentence is unconstitutional and against a recent Supreme Court precedent that prohibits life prison terms for non-homicidal crimes committed by juveniles. Blount, now 24, was 15 at the time of the robbery. Two 18-year-old co-defendants pleaded guilty and received 10 and 12-year sentences. Former Gov. Bob McDonnell granted Blount a conditional pardon, reducing the sentence to 40 years. But a federal judge voided that decision, saying the governor overstepped his authority.
