Category: Fredericksburg

“BeBe” Goes to Jail

That’s a reference to Ernest Goes to Jail in case you didn’t get that…

From The Free Lance-Star: Man, 19, held in slaying:

A man wanted for a Jan. 12 slaying at a Fredericksburg nightspot was captured early yesterday in Westmoreland County.

Brandon Lee Smith, 19, was taken into custody without incident shortly before 2 a.m. at a home just outside Colonial Beach, police said.

Smith is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of 30-year-old Dasan Ka’Wila Richardson.

Richardson was working as a bouncer at Mi Casa Restaurant in Central Park when he was shot twice in the chest with a .45-caliber gun during an altercation involving Smith and others, police said.

Fredericksburg police quickly identified and charged Smith in the slaying, but were unable to find him until yesterday.

Police said that Smith, also known as “BeBe,” is a member of the gang “Pound Property,” a gang which operates primarily in Colonial Beach, King George and Westmoreland.

Details regarding what led to Smith’s apprehension were sketchy yesterday, but city Lt. Eddie Delano said the key tip regarding Smith’s whereabouts was received by the Colonial Beach Police Department.

I guess some of your boys aren’t too happy with you.

Beach police and Westmoreland deputies later went to the house and surrounded the residence. Smith walked out and gave himself up.

He was later turned over to Fredericksburg detectives and is being held without bond in the Rappahannock Regional Jail.

According to police, Richardson was working for a promoter who had rented Mi Casa for a “hip-hop” event.

Shortly after 1 a.m. that morning, Smith was forcibly removed from the building because he is underage and because event sponsors recognized him as someone who had caused problems at prior events.

Court records state that Smith returned five to seven minutes later with several other associates and got into a fight with bouncers.

Richardson was shot at point-blank range.

Smith also has drug trials pending next month in Fredericksburg Circuit Court.

Security guard shot and killed in Fredericksburg

From NBC4 in Washington, D.C.: Security Guard Shot Dead At Va. Restaurant:

A security guard was shot dead early Saturday in the doorway of a city restaurant and police are searching for his killer, police said.

Officers were called to the Mi Casa Restaurant in the Central Park shopping center about 1:15 a.m. for several reports of shots fired. When they arrived, they found the victim just inside the front door, suffering two gunshot wounds to the chest, police said.

Police said 30-year-old Dasan Ka’Wila Richardson, a restaurant security guard, died a short time later, despite live-saving efforts at the restaurant and in an ambulance.

Detectives identified a possible shooter based on witness interviews. Police obtained a search warrant and the SWAT team made their way into a teen’s home in Riverside Manor about 11:15 a.m., police said. No one was there.

Police have obtained warrants charging Brandon Lee Smith, 19, with first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Fredericksburg police at 540-372-1122.

Nothing illegal here. Move along, move along… Part 4

From the AP via WUSA 9 in Washington, D.C.: Priest Pleads Not Guilty To 13 Fraud, Money Laundering Counts:

A Roman Catholic priest accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from two Louisa County churches pleaded not guilty to federal fraud and money laundering charges Thursday.

The Rev. Rodney L. Rodis waived his right to a jury trial. U.S. District Judge Richard Williams will hear the case beginning Oct. 25. The trial is expected to last three days.

Rodis, 51, faces eight counts of mail fraud, two counts of wire fraud and three counts of money laundering. Twelve of the counts are punishable by up to 20 years in prison, one by up to 10 years.

According to federal prosecutors, Rodis embezzled money from Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Bumpass and St. Jude Church in Mineral from 2002 until last year. He allegedly wired at least $515,231 of the money to his native Philippines.

[…]

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond has said Rodis embezzled more than $600,000 from the churches, where he was pastor from 1993 until he retired in May 2006 because of health problems.

[…]

Rodis originally was charged in state court with 13 embezzlement counts. The Louisa County prosecutor dropped those charges after Rodis was indicted last month by a federal grand jury.

After being charged in state court, Rodis was released on $25,000 bond. That bond was revoked in May after Rodis violated his conditions of release by flying to Detroit to visit a sick child. He remains in custody in the Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw.

Nothing illegal here. Move along, move along… Part 3

From the AP via WUSA 9 in Washington, D.C.: Priest Charged In Embezzlement Scheme Indicted On Federal Charges:

A Roman Catholic priest charged in state court with embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from two rural churches was indicted Tuesday on federal fraud charges, federal prosecutors said.

A federal grand jury indicted the Rev. Rodney L. Rodis, 51, of Fredericksburg, on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced in a news release.

According to the indictment, Rodis embezzled money from Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Bumpass and St. Jude Church in Mineral from 2002 until last year. Rodis wired at least $515,231 of misappropriated parishioner contributions to the Philippines, the release said.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Richmond has said Rodis embezzled more than $600,000 from the churches, where he was pastor from 1993 until his retirement last May.

Rodis is being held at Central Virginia Regional Jail in Orange County on 13 state felony embezzlement charges stemming from the incident. In May, Rodis’ bond was revoked after he violated terms of his bond.

“If the federal authorities had indicted Father Rodney for the same offenses for which he was standing trail in the state court, then arguably double jeopardy principles would prevent him from being tried in both courts for the same offense,” said Rodis’ lawyer, John R. Maus.

No, it doesn’t, you idiot. Where the hell did you go to law school? How the hell did you pass the bar? Of course, this isn’t the first moronic argument you’ve made.

Maus would not comment further on the charges because he had not yet seen the indictment.

Lousia [sic] County Commonwealth’s Attorney Don Short said he’s not surprised by the charges, but believes it probably will cause the state charges to be dropped in order to allow federal authorities to proceed.

Rodis used a post office box to obtain checks from parishioners, which he would transfer to a personal bank account and wire to the Philippines, according to court documents.

The release said that Rodis used the money and property intended for church use for his spouse and three biological children, “whom he concealed” by living about 50 miles from the church.

The case against Rodis originated in November when officials with the Catholic Diocese of Richmond found a Pennsylvania donor’s check was deposited in a bank account they knew nothing about.

Imagine if they had been men… Part 2

From the AP via NBC 4 in Washington, D.C.: Inmate Who Allegedly Had Sex With Guards Back In Jail [emphasis mine]:

A man who allegedly had sex with two female Prince William County corrections officers while he was under house arrest is back in jail.

Authorities said the 23-year-old violated the terms of his work release. He is serving the remaining three weeks of his sentence at the Rappahannock County jail.

Two Prince William corrections officers are accused of having sexual relations with the man. Maria Torres-Corbin and Tamara Fay Bonos were charged with carnal knowledge of an inmate. Officials said neither of the women knew about the other one.

Although the sex was consensual, officials say it’s a crime because of the custodial relationship.

Prince William jail officials said the inmate skipped his scheduled work, left early without permission and visited Bonos at her home.

So, now the victim of this horrible crime is in jail? Where’s the outrage?

Imagine if they had been men…

From the AP via NBC 4 in Washington, D.C.: 2 Corrections Officers Charged With Having Sex With Inmate [emphasis mine]:

Two female Prince William County corrections officers have been charged with having sexual relations with the same former inmate while he was still in the county’s custody on house arrest.

The two women apparently never knew about each other, authorities said.

Maria C. Torres-Corbin, 48, a master jail officer with almost 20 years’ experience, was arrested last week and charged with having carnal knowledge of an inmate, a felony. Torres-Corbin, of Fredericksburg, recently had been assigned to the work-release center, where she was responsible for checking on inmates in the electronic-monitoring program.

Then, on Wednesday, police charged Tamara Fay Bonos, 32, with the same crime.

Bonos, of Manassas, was an entry-level officer who worked at the main building of the regional jail for 18 months, said the jail’s superintendent, Col. Charles “Skip” Land.

[…]

Police said the corrections officers were off-duty when the incidents occurred at the inmate’s home. They said the man had been held in the county jail before he was put on work release and then on electronic monitoring while at home, police said.

“It was consensual,” Land said, “but if you read the code, the female officers had custodial rights over him. … Therein lies the problem.”

I’m absolutely certain he would have made that comment if the two correction officers had been male.

Nothing illegal here. Move along, move along… Part 2

From the AP via NBC 4 in Washington, D.C.: Judge To Hear Motion To Dismiss Charges Against Priest:

A Louisa County judge will hear arguments later this month on whether to dismiss 13 embezzlement charges against a priest accused of taking donation money from two Catholic churches where he served as pastor.

The hearing is set for Aug. 27.

The attorney for the Reverend Rodney Rodis claims in a court filing that Rodis should not be prosecuted in court if he mishandled money donated to the two parishes. Lawyer John Maus said the Catholic Diocese of Richmond should handle the case, due to the U.S. Constitution’s clause prohibiting government interference in church matters.

In Louisa County Circuit Court Wednesday, Maus discussed the possibility of calling in high-ranking church authorities to testify at the hearing.

Rodis is being held without bond in the Central Virginia Regional Jail in Orange after being accused of stealing up to $1 million. He’s scheduled to go to trial in October.

I must have missed the clause of the U.S. Constitution that “prohibit[s] government interference in church matters.” The First Amendment states the following:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; […]”

Is the embezzlement of one million dollars part of the free exercise of his religion now? Using this idiot lawyer’s rationale the government wouldn’t be able to prosecute a priest (or father, or reverend, or rabbi, or iman) accused of sexual misconduct with a minor or any other crime that occurred in a church, temple, synagogue, or mosque.

The previous post on this story received the following response from Phil Scoggin:

After hurricane Katrina “Father” Rodney Rodis made an impassioned plea from the pulpit for donations to help the “Katrina Victims”. I was so moved that I grabbed my wife’s checkbook and dashed off a $500 check for “Katrin Relief”. I noticed others taking similar actions. The collection was taken by the ushers. Over a year later we learned that the checks did not go to the Katrina victims but instead were deposited by Rodis in a secret account in the Heartland bank in Fredericksburg. The only signatory to that account was Rodis. The money has since disapeared from the Heartland bank in checks and with-drawalls written by Rodis.

What an upstanding individual there.

Army ranger killed Afghanistan, Soldier’s family lives in Fredericksburg

From Fredericksburg.com [photo credit: Ibid]: Army ranger killed Afghanistan, Soldier’s family lives in Fredericksburg [emphasis mine]:

LOHALL When 1st Lt. Benjamin Hall [pictured right] graduated from Ranger school, he looked at himself in uniform in the mirror and said to his dad, “This was 13 years in the making.”

His father, John Hall, a retired Army colonel and Fredericksburg resident, had told his son that Rangers were the Army elite, and he heeded his father’s words.

Benjamin Hall, 24, died from combat wounds Tuesday in Chowkay Valley, Afghanistan.

He was the platoon leader of Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, which is based in Vicenza, Italy.

Hall had been in Afghanistan only 70 days. As he was on his way there in May, he sent text messages to his mother, Sarah.

“Wheels up.”

“Landed.”

While he was in Afghanistan, Hall e-mailed four times and his dad saved all of them. He also called home a few times.

“But he never let on how bad it was,” his father said. The soldier told his parents everything was peaceful, “when in fact they were in combat almost every day,” John Hall said.

The second of four children, Hall ran cross country at Hylton High School in Woodbridge and majored in political science at Michigan Technological University. He was top of his cadet class in ROTC and was commissioned in 2005. Last fall, he was promoted to first lieutenant.

“Everything he knew was the military,” John Hall said. “His mother told him to be anything other than a soldier he said he wanted to serve his country.”

The military is in the Halls’ blood. John Hall is a retired Army colonel. Both of Hall’s grandfathers served in World War II; his great-grandfather in World War I; and his great-great-grandfather was a Union soldier in the Civil War.

Hall was a family man, his father said. His 10-year-old brother, Joe, was one of his best buddies.

“He never once worried about not being cool,” John Hall said. “He was always picking [Joe] up, kissing him. He was his.”

[…]

“He was just a beautiful young man I’m so proud of him. We all are,” John Hall said. “We’re going to miss him.”

If you have any information, please call police.

From Fredericksburg.com: Shooting victim helped prosecution in drug cases police witness slain [emphasis mine]:

Marlo David McQuillar A man who was a key prosecution witness in a case against a major local drug-dealing operation last year was killed late Friday in Fredericksburg.

Marlo David McQuillar, 24, of Fredericksburg was found dead at the Forest Village apartment complex shortly before midnight, city police spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe said. He had been shot multiple times.

Bledsoe said police went to the apartment complex after a resident called at 11:43 p.m. to report hearing gunshots. The resident said he looked out his window and saw three black males running to a white car, which left at a high rate of speed. Three other vehicles sped away at the same time, the witness said, but no other details were provided.

An officer arrived two minutes later and found no one at the scene. After looking around for a couple of minutes, Bledsoe said, the officer found McQuillar bleeding and lying in front of the 1200 building.

Rescue workers arrived a few minutes later and began performing CPR on the victim. Their efforts continued as he was put into an ambulance, but McQuillar died prior to being transported to the hospital.

Bledsoe said McQuillar had just gotten off work at Bob Evans restaurant and was at the complex to pick up his child, who was being kept by his sister. Detectives worked the case through the night and are continuing their efforts, Bledsoe said.

McQuillar testified last year in the prosecutions of Joni R. “Summa” Grizzard and Samuel T. “Capone” Ensley. They headed an operation that brought several kilos of cocaine per month into the Fredericksburg area, along with marijuana and Ecstasy.

Drugs were sold in Fredericksburg and Stafford, Spotsylvania and King George counties, witnesses said. The operation involved frequent shipment of cocaine from central North Carolina and New York City.

McQuillar sold drugs for Ensley and Grizzard and gave police insider information about how their operation worked. Ensley got a 10-year prison sentence, while Grizzard got 15 years.

McQuillar got a suspended sentence in return for his cooperation. He told a judge in October that he had seen the error of his ways and was looking forward to raising his son as a law-abiding citizen.

“I refuse to let my son go down the same path of negativity that I went down,” he said at the time.

Anyone with information about Friday’s slaying is asked to call city police at 373-3122 or 372-1055. Callers do not have to give their names, and could receive a reward.