A Mississippi man with an extensive criminal past has been sentenced to life in prison as a habitual offender after leading police on a chase in Tennessee in a truck he took from family members.
Robert Louis Sorel, 42, was convicted of embezzlement by trust on Monday and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Circuit Court Judge Keith Miller handed down the maximum sentence under Mississippi’s “life habitual” statute, citing Sorel’s violent criminal history.
The case originated on April 20, 2023, when deputies investigated a report of a missing truck in Vancleave. Authorities learned Sorel had borrowed the vehicle from a family member four days prior and failed to return it. A week later, Sorel was apprehended in a Tennessee state park following a police chase, facing charges there for DUI and evading arrest, in addition to the Mississippi embezzlement charge. During his trial, Sorel admitted taking the truck but couldn’t explain how he ended up in Tennessee…