Former UFC fighter Jason Miller was sentenced on Tuesday to one year in jail – technically, 364 days – and two years probation for felony charges of vandalism and attempted grand theft.
According to online records, Miller, 40, was also ordered to pay restitution to the victim, whom police said he knew. The coach of “The Ultimate Fighter 14” had been in jail since his arrest this past August on a trio of felonies: first-degree burglary, unlawful taking of a vehicle and grand theft auto. The latter charge was dismissed per a plea deal he struck with prosecutors before his sentencing, according to online records and CBS Los Angeles.
It’s the second yearlong jail sentence for Miller, who’s repeatedly run afoul of the law. He received his first 12-month term in July 2019 after pleading guilty to a felony vandalism and a misdemeanor charge of violating a protective “stay-away” order. At the time of his sentence, he was already sitting in an Orange County, Calif., jail after a separate vandalism charge of smashing up his then-girlfriend’s house. He pleaded guilty in 2017 to domestic violence against the same woman and received 124 days in jail.
Miller’s life began to unravel in 2012 after he was arrested for vandalizing a church. Since then, UFC and Strikeforce veteran had run-ins with police on a yearly basis: in 2013, he was charged with domestic violence, but acquitted; in 2014, he live-tweeted a police standoff that ended in his arrest; in 2015 he was arrested after an alleged altercation with two woman and assault of a sheriff’s deputy; in 2016, he was arrested after vandalizing a tattoo shop and on suspicion of DUI.
With each run-in with the law, Miller has skirted closer to serious jail time. In 2017, after receiving 100 days in jail as part of a plea deal on a dozen felonies and misdemeanors he’d accrued over the past three years, he told a judge he’d “straighten up and fly right.” After a 2018 vandalism charge, his attorney vented his frustration over Miller’s behavior.
“It is incredibly sad to see these continued police contacts, but I have faith he can straighten out his life,” said his rep, Cameron Talley.
In 2015, Miller was profiled for HBO’s “Real Sports” and gave a bizarre interview where he discussed the damage he’d done to himself as a professional fighter. One year later, he attempted a brief comeback in the upstart Venator promotion, but badly missed weight and submitted in the second round.