Former Bishop Up For Parole After Deadly, Drunken Hit-And-Run

BALTIMORE, MD — Former Episcopal bishop Heather Cook is up for parole less than two years after she began serving her sentence for killing a cyclist while drunk and texting.

Cook, 60, was sentenced to seven years in jail in October 2015. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other charges related the fatal hit-and-run crash that occurred two days after Christmas 2014.

A parole hearing is scheduled for May 9 at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women in Jessup, where Cook has been living, according to Gerard Shields, spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

Cook admitted she was guilty of four offenses — vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated, leaving the scene of an accident and texting while driving — in the death of bicyclist Thomas Palermo.

Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby alleged that Cook registered a 0.22 blood alcohol level on a breathalyzer. The legal blood alcohol limit is 0.08 in Maryland.

Since vehicular manslaughter is considered a "non-violent" crime by the state, Shields said that Cook is eligible for parole when she has served 25 percent of the sentence. That means in July she would be able to be released, at the earliest.

It was not the first brush with the law for the former bishop. In 2010, Cook was charged with multiple offenses including possession of marijuana and DUI, receiving probation before judgment and a $300 fine. Police in Caroline County brought those charges after an officer pulled Cook over on a traffic stop; there was no crash or injury involved.

She was the first female bishop inducted in Maryland in May 2014. She resigned on May 1, 2015.

Related: Former Bishop Sentenced to Jail

Photo Credit: Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.