Devin Allen Miles, 23 of Lexington Park
Devin Allen Miles, 22, of Lexington Park, had already been arrested in a serious St. Mary’s County weapons case involving a ghost gun, ammunition, and a device investigators said could make the firearm fully automatic. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced in July 2025, but less than a year later, Miles was no longer behind bars and was arrested in a July 5, 2026, Calvert County attempted murder case involving a stabbing.
The key question is why Miles was not still in jail when the Calvert County case happened.
Records from the earlier St. Mary’s County case show that Miles was first arrested on October 8, 2024. Detectives with the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office were searching a home on Little Girls Way in Lexington Park during a death investigation when they reported finding a Polymer80 unserialized handgun inside a safe in a bedroom connected to Miles. Investigators described the gun as a “ghost gun” because it did not have a serial number. They also said the gun had a device known as a “switch,” which can allow a semiautomatic firearm to fire like a fully automatic weapon.
Devin Allen Miles, 21 at the time, of Lexington Park
Miles was charged with possession of a rapid fire trigger activator and possession of a machine gun for an aggressive purpose. Investigators also reported finding multiple magazines and ammunition in the same safe as the gun.
Miles was later interviewed at the St. Mary’s County District Three Substation. Investigators said he admitted the Polymer80 handgun was his, called it a “ghost gun,” and acknowledged that it had a “switch.” They also said Miles stated that the purpose of the “switch” was to make the gun fully automatic.
At first, Miles was not released. He was ordered held without bond after his arrest. Judge Karen Christy Holt Chesser kept him held without bond during a bond review on October 9, 2024. The case was later moved to St. Mary’s County Circuit Court, where Miles was indicted on the same weapons-related allegations.
The case changed in March 2025, when Miles pleaded guilty to possession of a rapid fire trigger activator. Judge Amy Lorenzini handled the guilty plea. The records provided show that Miles was later sentenced by Judge Joseph Michael Stanalonis on July 1, 2025.
Miles received a three-year jail sentence, but he was not ordered to serve all three years. Judge Stanalonis suspended all but one year, meaning Miles only had one active year to serve. He was also placed on three years of supervised probation.
That sentence appears to explain why Miles was out of jail by July 2026. Even though the total sentence was three years, two years were suspended. Since Miles had already been in custody after his October 2024 arrest, that time could have counted toward the one year he was actually required to serve.
In simpler terms, Miles was not released because the St. Mary’s County weapons case disappeared. He was released because the sentence he received only required one year of active jail time, and he may have already served much of that time before he was sentenced.
The available records do not list the exact date Miles left jail, and they do not name the jail official who released him. They also do not show a final conviction on the machine gun charge. The final sentencing information provided only shows a guilty plea and sentence for the rapid fire trigger activator charge.
The timeline now matters because Miles was later accused in the July 5, 2026, Calvert County attempted murder case. That new allegation came after he had already been sentenced in the St. Mary’s County weapons case and placed on supervised probation.
For many in the community, the concern is not only that Miles had faced a prior gun-related case, but that the earlier case involved a ghost gun, ammunition, and a device investigators said could make the weapon fully automatic. Despite those allegations, the final sentence allowed him to be out of jail before the Calvert County stabbing case.
The records show three important decisions in the St. Mary’s County case. Judge Chesser initially kept Miles in jail without bond. Judge Lorenzini accepted his guilty plea. Judge Stanalonis later imposed the sentence that left Miles with one year of active jail time and three years of supervised probation.
