(Updated 5:32 p.m.) A man accused of shooting wildly at law enforcement following a destructive, high-speed chase through Arlington and Fairfax County accepted a plea bargain on Wednesday.
Ricardo Singleton, 29, admitted in Arlington Circuit Court to firing a gun from his car while fleeing authorities — a pursuit that prosecutors claim ended after a gunfight in Fairfax County.
A former board president of the Arlington Aquatic Club pled guilty today to conspiring to sexually exploit several children.
Mark Black, 50, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography and one count of coercion and enticement one month before he was set to go to trial in federal court on Feb. 27, according to a press release from the U.S. Dept. of Justice.
Arlington resident James Gordon Meek, formerly a prominent television news producer, has pleaded guilty to child pornography charges.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced the plea this afternoon. Meek, 53, faces a minimum sentence of 5 year in federal prison and a maximum sentence of several decades.
A Maryland man has pleaded guilty to assault after he threatened and stole the keys of a dump truck driver following a crash on the GW Parkway.
The road rage incident happened on Nov. 1 along the Arlington portion of the Parkway. It was prosecuted in federal court since it happened on National Park Service land.
Guilty Plea in 1998 Murder — “The case of Andrea Cincotta, a librarian and single mother who was found dead in her Arlington apartment, remained an unsolved mystery for nearly 24 years… On Wednesday, [Bobby Joe Leonard] pleaded guilty to a first-degree murder charge, admitting that he strangled Cincotta to death more than two decades ago. And he claimed he did so hoping to be paid by a man he believed to be Cincotta’s boyfriend.” [Washington Post]
Metro Upping Rail Service on Local Lines — “Welcome news for customers who ride the Blue, Orange and Silver lines. As of Aug 1, trains will arrive every 15 minutes on weekdays, matching service on the Green and Yellow lines. For most customers, the wait for a train will be no longer than 5-8 minutes, as most stations are served by at least two if not all three lines.” [WMATA]
From Philadelphia to Los Angeles to nearby Fairfax County, and here in Arlington, prosecutors running on criminal justice reform platforms were elected in a wave.
But since they’ve taken office, some have questioned whether their approach to crime is too soft. A recall election in San Francisco ousted its chief prosecutor, and last year, Arlington’s Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti also faced a recall campaign, though it never seriously threatened her tenure in office.
An Arlington doctor’s office was the hub of a “decade-long oxycodone distribution network,” federal prosecutors say.
A Front Royal woman who authorities say was the “ringleader” of the scheme, which prescribed tens of thousands of pills between 2012 and 2022, pleaded guilty Monday. Candie Marie Calix, 40, could face up to 20 years in prison at her scheduled sentencing on September 28.
The former Uber driver who allegedly struck Advanced Towing owner John O’Neill last year entered a plea agreement on July 23.
Gigssa Bekele Bengessa pleaded guilty to reckless driving in a parking lot and to a felony hit and run. He will face some jail time and three years of probation.
Guilty Plea in Good Samaritan Killing — “An Arlington man will spend up to 45 years in prison for killing a good Samaritan who intervened in a violent domestic dispute in October 2018. Michael Nash, 29, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder Monday — the morning he was set to go to trial… Nash had intended to argue that he was not in his right mind when he killed Julio Patricio Salazar, 54, a Bolivian immigrant described by family and witnesses as a hero who tried to help a woman in distress.” [Washington Post, NBC 4]
New Workforce Training Initiative — “The local workforce development board and the Arlington Employment Center (AEC) are rolling out new initiatives to increase access to online training and assist 1,000 adults and graduating students to prepare for post-pandemic jobs, especially those requiring digital skills. The Virginia Career Works-Alexandria/Arlington Region Workforce Council and AEC have partnered with LinkedIn Learning to provide short-term training in pre-designed career pathways that lead to skills local businesses need.” [Arlington County]
Man Sentenced for Drunken Gunfire — “The Weedsport [New York] man arrested for publicly firing a gun in the Washington area days before the Jan. 6 Capitol attack was sentenced April 28 in Arlington County Circuit Court. Moses Geri, 39, was sentenced to two years in prison, with one year and eight months suspended… His sentence was issued days after the court rejected a previous plea agreement that would have made all 12 months of Geri’s probation unsupervised.” [The Citizen]
VHC Now a Level II Trauma Center — “Virginia Hospital Center (VHC), a community-based hospital providing medical services to the Washington, DC metropolitan area for 75 years, is proud to announce that it has received a Level II Trauma Center designation from the Commonwealth of Virginia, filling a critical community need.” [Press Release]
A South Carolina man who forcibly stole a woman’s car and then fled from police has received a nearly four year prison sentence.
On the evening of June 22, 2020, police say Verdell Floyd carjacked a woman in a gas station near Shirlington. According to police, Floyd approached the woman while she was pumping gas “and demanded the vehicle.”
