Across Virginia
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – The Hershey Company has picked Virginia for a major expansion of its manufacturing operation.Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday that the candy maker plans a $104 million expansion at its facility in Augusta County. The expanded facility will manufacture a type of fudge and peanut cream.The new project is expected to create 65 new jobs. Northam approved a $1 million in state grants for the project.Hershey brands include Reese’s, Kit Kat and Jolly Rancher.
A Martinsville doctor faces anywhere from 20 years to life after a federal jury convicted him of distributing more than 500,000 controlled substances to patients who often traveled hundreds of miles to see him. Prosecutors say Joel Smithers perpetuated opioid addiction “on a massive scale”.
From the U.S. Attorney’s Office: Abingdon, VIRGINIA – Joel Smithers, a Martinsville-based doctor, was found guilty today of 861 federal drug charges at the conclusion of a nine-day jury trial in U.S. District Court in Abingdon, United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen announced.
The jury convicted Smithers, 36, after seven hours of deliberation, on one count of maintaining a place for the purpose of illegally distributing controlled substances, one count of possession with the intent to distribute controlled substances, and 859 counts of illegally prescribing Schedule II controlled substances. The jury also found that the oxycodone and oxymorphone Smithers prescribed to a woman from West Virginia caused her death.
“This defendant not only violated his Hippocratic Oath to his patients, but he perpetuated, on a massive scale, the vicious cycle of addiction, despair, and destruction,” U.S. Attorney Cullen stated today. “We have no higher priority than investigating drug-dealing physicians and other corrupt health-care practitioners and putting them in federal prison.”
Evidence presented at trial showed Smithers opened an office in Martinsville in August 2015, and prescribed controlled substances to every patient in his practice, resulting in over 500,000 Schedule II controlled substances being distributed. The drugs involved included oxymorphone, oxycodone, hydromorphone, and fentanyl. A majority of those receiving prescriptions from Smithers traveled hundreds of miles, one-way, to receive the drugs. Smithers did not accept insurance and took in over $700,000 in cash and credit card payments prior to a search warrant being executed at his office on March 7, 2017.
United States District Court Judge James P. Jones ordered Smithers taken into custody pending sentencing. Sentencing is scheduled for August 16 at 10:00 a.m. in Abingdon. Smithers faces a mandatory minimum sentence of imprisonment for a term of twenty years and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. He also faces a maximum fine of more than $200 million dollars.
The case was investigated by the Roanoke offices of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Tactical Diversion Squad and the Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General. Task force officers with the police departments of Bristol, Martinsville, Buena Vista, Roanoke, and Roanoke County; the Sheriff’s Offices of Henry County and Pittsylvania County; and the Virginia State Police assisted in the investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Cagle Juhan, Randy Ramseyer and Zachary T. Lee prosecuted the case for the United States
RESTON, Va. (AP) — A popular children’s performer in northern Virginia has been arrested and charged with possessing child pornography. Fairfax County Police said on Thursday that 58-year-old Steven Rossi of Reston was arrested April 30 on 10 felony counts. Rossi performed under the name M. Knick Knack and has been a popular children’s entertainer in the region for more than a decade. Recently, he had a standing gig playing Monday at the pavilion at Reston Town Center. Police are continuing their investigation but say they do not believe Rossi had any contact with children in the images. Court records indicate he is free on bond as he awaits a preliminary hearing. The public defender’s office, which was appointed to represent him, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Thursday.
WFIR/Evan Jones
It looks like supporters of extending passenger rail service from Ronaoke to the New River Valley must be willing to be patient. The state has money set aside for a study — but to this point, nothing more. The state’s latest six-year rail spending plan as drafted contains no additional money that would be needed to make extension of that service possible. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more:
State Police will honor fallen Trooper Lucas Dowell tomorrow during their annual service remembering colleagues who have died in performance of their duties. Dowell was fatally shot in Farmville three months ago as a tactical team executed a home search warrant. His portrait will go up alongside those of 65 other Virginia state troopers who have died in the line of duty.
From Virginia State Police: In advance of National Police Week, the men and women of the Virginia State Police and their families will gather together Thursday, May 9, 2019, to honor those public safety professionals who have given the ultimate sacrifice in their service to the Commonwealth of Virginia. During the 2019 Virginia State Police Officers’ Memorial Service, special recognition will be given to Trooper Lucas B. Dowell, 28, who lost his life Feb. 4, 2019 in Cumberland County. Virginia Senator Charles W. Carrico Sr., 40th District, will provide the ceremony’s keynote address.
A poignant part of the service will be the unveiling and dedication of Trooper Dowell’s portrait before his family and fellow troopers. Following the ceremony, Trooper Dowell’s portrait will be hung in the Colonel C.W. Woodson Jr. Memorial Gallery located within the Virginia State Police Academy. The gallery already holds the portraits of the state police’s other 65 courageous men and women who died in the line-of-duty while serving the citizens of the Commonwealth.
On Feb. 4, 2019, Trooper Dowell was assisting the Piedmont Regional Drug and Gang Task Force in his capacity as a member of the Virginia State Police Appomattox Division Tactical Team. The Tactical Team was executing a search warrant at a residence in the 1500 block of Cumberland Road/Route 45, just north of the town limits of Farmville. The Tactical Team had made entry into the residence when an adult male inside the residence began firing at the Tactical Team and subsequently shot Trooper Dowell. The Tactical Team members returned fire, fatally wounding the male suspect. Trooper Dowell was transported to Southside Community Hospital in Farmville, where he succumbed to his injuries.
MGN
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal judge has struck down a Virginia law that says only physicians can perform first-trimester abortions. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson issued his ruling Monday. His opinion could increase access to abortions in the state by allowing more medical providers to perform the procedure. Hudson wrote that the law “is unnecessary and provides minimal medical benefits with respect to first trimester abortions.” He added that such regulations present an undue burden to women seeking an abortion. The lawsuit challenging that law and others was filed by a medical center and reproductive rights groups. A trial over other state abortion laws is still scheduled for May 20. Those laws include a requirement for ultrasounds and a 24-hour delay for an abortion in some circumstances.
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) – A special prosecutor in Virginia says he’s presented two indictments of election fraud against a person who worked on a Republican congressman’s doomed re-election campaign.Special prosecutor Donald Caldwell announced the indictment in a statement Monday. He did not identify the staffer who worked on Scott Taylor’s campaign in Virginia’s coastal 2nd Congressional District.A ballot-fraud scandal clouded much of Taylor’s campaign last summer. Staffers were accused of forging voter signatures to place a third-party “spoiler candidate” on November’s ballot.A judge ultimately removed the candidate, Shaun Brown, from the race. The judge also said there was evidence of fraud by Taylor’s campaign staffers. Democrat Elaine Luria ultimately won the election.Caldwell said the investigation into election fraud is ongoing. He said some people have not cooperated with his investigation.
LEXINGTON, Va. (AP) – Virginia Military Institute isn’t raising student tuition thanks to increased state funding to the country’s oldest state-supported military college.The Lexington institution’s Board of Visitors decided Saturday to keep annual tuition for Virginia residents at nearly $9,300, and for non-Virginia cadets at about $36,000.But fees will increase by $540 for room and board, auxiliary services, and quartermaster charges. Cadets are required to live in the VMI barracks throughout their studies, making room and board a required fee.The higher fees will generate an additional $1.6 million, added to an extra $1.9 million in state funding. VMI’s budget for the fiscal year beginning in July is $96 million.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Courts around the country are embracing text messages in a new way. They’re using texts to remind defendants of their upcoming hearings.Texting systems are being used in more than a dozen states, including Virginia, California, Maryland and Florida.One of the main goals is to reduce failure-to-appear rates, which are as high as 50 percent in some courts.Missing a court date often results in a judge issuing a bench warrant, which can lead to a citation or arrest, fines and even jail time.In New York City, researchers found that text messages that combined information on planning, what to expect and the consequences of not going to court led to a 26 percent drop in the number of people who failed to show up.
The last two California men charged in connection with the “Unite the Right” rally two summers ago in Charlottesville have pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to riot. Prosecutors say Benjamin Daley and Michael Miselis were members of a white supremacist organization who came to Charlottesville with the intent to incite and commit acts of violence.
From the US Attorney for the Western District of Virginia: Benjamin Drake Daley and Michael Paul Miselis, members of the white-supremacist organization known as the Rise Above Movement (RAM), pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville to one count of conspiracy to riot in connection with the August 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville and other alleged political rallies in California. Daley, one of the founders of RAM, was chiefly responsible for organizing the group’s presence at the Unite the Right rally. The announcement was made by United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen, Special Agent in Charge David W. Archey of the FBI’s Richmond Division, and Colonel Gary T. Settle of the Virginia State Police.
“These avowed white supremacists traveled to Charlottesville to incite and commit acts of violence, not to engage in peaceful First Amendment expression,” U.S. Attorney Cullen stated today. “Although the First Amendment protects an organization’s right to express abhorrent political views, it does not authorize senseless violence in furtherance of a political agenda.”
“As RAM members, Daley and Miselis trained to engage in violent confrontations and attended the Unite the Right Rally with the expectation of provoking physical conflict with counter-protestors that would lead to riots,” Special Agent Archey said today. “The FBI will continue to work with the Virginia State Police and the United States Attorney’s Office (WDVA) to investigate and prosecute these violations. We are grateful to the Charlottesville community and the Commonwealth of Virginia for their cooperation during these investigations.”
“Pursuing and bringing these violent individuals to justice have been of priority for the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation since that fateful day in August 2017 in the city of Charlottesville,” said Colonel Settle, Virginia State Police Superintendent. “Those from the Virginia State Police, FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office assigned to this case are to be commended. Because of their dedicated, investigative efforts, no other communities, from Virginia to California, are at risk of being terrorized by the hate and violence spawned by this now-defunct, white-supremacist organization.”
According to plea documents filed during today’s hearing, Daley, 26, of Redondo Beach, Calif., and Miselis, 30, of Lawndale, Calif., were members of RAM, a now-defunct, California-based, combat-ready, militant group that represented itself as part of the new nationalist and white supremacy movement. They are the final two RAM members to plead guilty to federal riot act charges. Cole White and Thomas Gillen each previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to riot.
From March 2017 to August 2017, RAM and its members, including Daley and Miselis, traveled to multiple political rallies and organized demonstrations in Virginia and California where they prepared to, and engaged in, acts of violence. RAM regularly held hand-to-hand and other combat training for members and associates to prepare to engage in violent confrontations with protestors and other individuals at purported political rallies. They attended these rallies with the intention of provoking physical conflict with counter-protestors, which they believed would justify their use of force against the counter-protestors and shield them from prosecution for their acts of violence. Daley and Miselis attended several such training events and rallies.
On March 25, 2017, Daley and Miselis attended a political rally in Huntington Beach, Calif., with several RAM members. At that event, several RAM members pursued and assaulted groups of protestors and other individuals. Following the rally, photographs depicting RAM members assaulting protestors and other individuals were covered on local news stations and on the “front page” of various Neo-Nazi and white-supremacist websites. RAM members celebrated this coverage and used the internet to post statements, photographs, and videos of the assaults committed by RAM members at this rally in order to recruit members to engage in violent confrontations at future events.
On April 15, 2017, Daley, Miselis and other RAM members attended a rally in Berkeley, Calif., Daley, Miselis and other RAM members were dressed in gray clothing, goggles, and black scarfs or masks to cover the lower half of their faces. Throughout the day, there were violent clashes between some rally attendees and individuals protesting the rally. At one point, RAM members, including Daley and Miselis, crossed a barrier separating the attendees and the protestors, and assaulted protestors and other individuals.
In August 2017, Daley and Miselis, along with defendants Gillen and White, planned to travel to Charlottesville to attend the Unite the Right Rally. Daley and Miselis expected the event would become a riot and that their experience in riots at Huntington Beach and Berkeley would be valuable.
On August 11, 2017, the evening prior to the scheduled Unite the Right Rally, Daley, Miselis and other members of RAM, joined hundreds of individuals in a torch-lit march on the grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Throughout the march, participants chanted, “Blood and Soil!” and “Jews will not replace us!” The march culminated near a statue of Thomas Jefferson where a small group of students gathered to protest white supremacy. Violence erupted among the crowd, with some punching, kicking, spraying chemical irritants and swinging torches. During and in furtherance of this riot, RAM members, struck multiple individuals with torches. As part of their plea, the defendants admitted these actions were not in self-defense.
On the morning of August 12, 2017, Daley, Miselis and other members of RAM, with hands wrapped in white athletic tape, were part of a large group of over 40 individuals seeking entry into Emancipation Park by way of Second Street when they were told by law enforcement to enter at a different location. The group, including Daley, Miselis and other RAM members, turned, lined up, and began to make their way through a group of over 20 individuals who had come to the rally to protest against discrimination. As they made their way through the group of protestors, the RAM members collectively pushed, punched, kicked, chocked, head-butted, and otherwise assaulted several individuals, resulting in a riot. As part of their pleas, the defendants admitted these actions were not in self-defense.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Virginia State Police. United States Attorney Thomas T. Cullen, Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Kavanaugh, and Assistant United States Attorney Justin Lugar are prosecuting the case for the United States.