Parole revoked for Sparks councilman’s killer

The man convicted in the 1987 murder of former Sparks Councilman Valentine Galleron is back in prison for at least another year.

Randy Roy Howard, 59, was convicted and served 24 years in prison before he was paroled in June 2011.

He was brought before the parole board in April after a series of mostly technical violations of his parole conditions and was given another chance.

“He just continued to not be able to comply with conditions,” said Connie Bisbee, parole board chairwoman.

Howard was brought in again Tuesday, and the board decided to revoke his parole for violations including financial conditions and a ban on contact with certain people. He committed no new crimes or major violations, Bisbee said.

She said Howard seems to be having difficulty adjusting to life on the outside after 24 years in prison. He will be eligible to seek parole again in February 2015.

Howard was sentenced to life in prison with possible parole for his part in Galleron’s death. He and a woman were hired to kill the ex-councilman. They threw a plugged-in television set into his hot tub and he died of electrocution.

The woman who was convicted of masterminding the plot, Janine Hillman, is serving two life terms without the possibility of parole. Howard’s partner in the crime died in prison of heart problems in 1994.