Milo Sanford
John Milo Sanford was convicted of 2nd-degree murder at 24 years old but was let on parole multiple times and ultimately freed at 38, despite his original sentence of 35 years. This event happened during the heavily segregated and critical environment of southern Alabama, where the heavily controversial Scottsboro Boys’ trial happened about a year before he was convicted. John Milo was born in 1908 in Auburn, Alabama. His parents were Nettie and Will Sanford, and he was raised in Lee County where he was able to learn how to read and write and work as a porter at a cafe. He had a 7th grade education, as a full high school education for Black children was difficult to achieve at the time. He had a child named Bobby Jean and when he married again his wife had 5 children. Sanford was married twice before he died in 1971, his first wife being Ella Mae in July of 1936, and Eula in May of 1946. John Milo Sanford was paroled 8 times from 10 days to a year. He was first paroled in April of 1936 and kept getting extended until his release in 1938, although he was dully pardoned in 1944. In 1940, while on parole, he lived with his aunt who owned her own home valued at $2,500 on East Glenn Ave. In total he served roughly three years of his 35-year sentence. However, his case remains peculiar to this day as John Milo was even given the right to be paroled to marry, his right to be drafted, and even vote. He was given all of these freedoms once full pardoned, however up until that point it would have been difficult for him to hold a job. He was unemployed in 1945 and working service work due to having been convicted of second-degree murder previously. He worked as a porter at a café and did deliveries for a drugstore. Sanford was even able to read and write, and his paroles & liberty were especially odd since his crime happened in 1923, the time of mass lynching and terrible racial conditions. John Sanford was likely seen as innocent by his community because of all of the rights he was given while still in prison. John Milo Sanford passed away on October 3rd, 1971, in Lee County, Alabama at the age of 63, still married to Eula Mae and as a free man.
Contributed by Hailey and Emily from Auburn High School