A 44-year-old former attorney was sentenced to seven years in jail after a series of burglaries in Arlington and Alexandria.
Patrick L. Edwards was arrested last March for a stealing credit cards from an Alexandria office building multiple times in 2022. He was convicted of felony statutory burglary and other charges and sentenced to six years of incarceration, with all of that time suspended on conditions including supervised probation.
However, the investigation was also connected to similar burglaries in Arlington in early 2023.
According to a press release:
The charges arose from an investigation that encompassed similar offenses committed by Edwards, hereinafter referred to as the defendant, in the City of Alexandria…
The evidence established that, in early 2023, the defendant burglarized four different Arlington properties, including both residences and businesses, and committed a series of larcenies therein. Edwards subsequently sold some of the stolen items and deposited a stolen check into his bank account.
Because Edwards was a practicing defense attorney and an active member of the Arlington County Bar Association, the Commonwealth Attorney’s Office for the City of Alexandria was appointed to serve as special prosecutor and a Fairfax judge presided over the case.
Edwards was convicted of felony burglary, felony grand larceny, felony grand larceny with intent to sell, felony larceny of a check, felony uttering, and four counts of misdemeanor unlawful entry and four counts of misdemeanor petit larceny.
He was sentenced on Nov. 20 to a total of seven years in prison. The Virginia State Bar, meanwhile, revoked his license to practice law.
“It is appalling that a licensed, practicing attorney, with obvious knowledge of the law and its consequences, embarked on what can only be described as a crime spree,” said Alexandria Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter. This was no momentary lapse caused by an unexpected opportunity; instead it was a lengthy series of planned, intentional criminal acts that violated the security of the victims and inured to the detriment of the legal profession.”
