Ryan Holle

Ryan Joseph Holle (born November 17, 1982) is an American man convicted in 2004 of first-degree murder under the felony murder rule, after lending his car to a friend who, along with others, committed a robbery during which a woman was killed in Pensacola, Florida. His original life sentence was commuted to 25 years by Governor Rick Scott, and he served the reduced term at the Marion Correctional Facility. During the burglary, one of the men, Charles Miller Jr., used a shotgun found in the house to strike and kill Jessica Snyder. The two men who entered the Snyders' home with him each received the same sentence, as did the driver, William Allen, Jr. In explaining the decision, Scott stated:

"I believe that the purpose of commutations is to undo such obviously inequitable results. Because Ryan Holle's responsibility for [the victim's] death is clearly less than [his co-defendants], I believe his sentence should likewise be less."

This was the first commutation for a felony murder conviction in Florida.

The Ryan Holle Reform Act Since his release from prison, Holle has partnered with another inmate, Doug Gilding, who wrote a felony murder reform bill entitled the Ryan Holle Reform Act from his prison cell. Gilding’s case involved circumstances similar to Holle’s, in which he was at home asleep when the crime occurred and was sentenced to life without parole under Florida’s felony murder rule. Upon reading about Holle's commutation, Gilding, who has been in prison for almost 30 years now, was inspired to write a reform bill, from his prison cell, that would change Florida's felony murder law by capping the amount of time in prison for individuals who were not the actual killer or a major participant in the crime.

So far, the bill has received limited support. However, with Holle now released from prison, advocates hope that he will be able to engage legislators on the issue of Florida’s felony murder law, which currently allows individuals who did not kill anyone or were not present during the crime to receive life sentences.