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Martinsville, VA doctor convicted of 467 federal drug charges
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Martinsville, VA doctor convicted of 467 federal drug charges

After 16 hours of deliberation, a jury in the U.S. District Court in Abingdon found Dr. Joel Smithers guilty of 467 counts of federal drug violations. Those charges stemmed from Smithers, a doctor based in Martinsville, illegally prescribing Schedule II drugs including oxymorphone, oxycodone, hydromorphone, and fentanyl. “Patients trust doctors to make decisions based on their healthcare needs, not a perversion of their own greed,” Acting United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee said after the conviction. “For many years, this defendant betrayed the trust placed in him by his patients, his community, and the medical profession as a whole through his illegal distribution of thousands of medically unnecessary opioids. According to evidence presented at trial, after Smithers opened the ...
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VSP investigating fatal crash in Northumberland
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VSP investigating fatal crash in Northumberland

Virginia State Police is investigating a fatal crash that occurred in Northumberland on Christmas Eve. Details remain limited but VSP said it responded to the incident at about 2 a.m. In Burgess, there as a single-car crash involving a 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt less than one-third of a mile from the intersection of Rt. 360 and Rt. 200. The car ran off the right side of the road, the westbound side, and struck a tree, VSP reported. The driver, Angela Dawn Lewis, a 50-year-old Callao resident, was not wearing her seatbelt and died at the scene from her injuries. This is a developing story. Subscribe for updates. WATCH: +50 Year Olds Busted for Drug House in Gloucester Follow the Watchful Eye on Twitter, Facebook, & Instagram to keep up with what's hap...
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Public aids Suffolk police in arrest of most wanted & alleged church shooter
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Public aids Suffolk police in arrest of most wanted & alleged church shooter

Within days, Suffolk Police arrested suspects in two unrelated shootings, and both arrests were made possible due to help from the community. Micheal McKinley Jr. who Suffolk Police Department as its “#1 most wanted” was arrested on December 11. Suffolk Police named the 22-year-old as the suspect in a shooting incident that occurred on November 29 in the 100 block of Kennet Drive. SPD alleges he shot at two people in a vehicle and an occupied dwelling. No one was injured during this incident, but McKinley already had numerous active violent felony warrants including charges of attempted murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, the department announced. SPD described McKinley as armed and dangerous and called on the public for assistance locating him. After hi...
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Driver seriously injured in New Kent turn-over crash
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Driver seriously injured in New Kent turn-over crash

The driver of the tractor-trailer that overturned on Pocahontas Trail in New Kent on Tuesday was seriously injured, Virginia State Police Sgt. Jessica Shehan confirmed. The incident occurred around 2 p.m. near the 4100 block of Pocahontas Trail (Route 60) just west of Toe Ink Wayside. Shehan said the driver, Santos Adan Rios Reyes, a 49-year-old Manassas Park man, stated he crashed because he took his eyes off the roadway to grab something inside the vehicle. After he ran off the roadway, he over corrected, overturned and his load spilled in the road. The incident shut down all lanes of Pocahontas Trail eastbound near Toe Ink Wayside with VSP estimating the cleanup to be over 3 hours. Reyes was transported to the hospital. Shehan reported that he was not wearing a seatbelt ...
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Man who escaped ICE facility in Caroline sentenced, now appealing
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Man who escaped ICE facility in Caroline sentenced, now appealing

Dennis Zeledon Hernandez, the Salvadorian man who escaped from Caroline Detention Facility (CDF), was sentenced last Wednesday. But he’s adding to his lengthy legal tennis match with the federal government by filing an appeal. Early years in U.S. Court records show Zeledon Hernandez has a history with the feds that dates back to July 2016 when ICE officials found him near the border in Hidalgo, TX. At that time, he claimed to fear gang members in El Salvador. An asylum officer found he demonstrated credible fear of persecution, and he was served with a Notice to Appear that warned that failure to appear may result in a removal order and arrest, the records state. After several months in ICE detention, Zeledon Hernandez was ordered to be released on bond. Court records show, a mont...
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VDOT testing parking space availability app in Northern VA, could expand to Fredericksburg
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VDOT testing parking space availability app in Northern VA, could expand to Fredericksburg

VDOT is testing the ParkZen app at select parking lots in Northern Virginia and those who participate are eligible for a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card. ParkZen is an app that shows the availability of parking spaces in real time. VDOT began testing the app last month. The hope is making it easier to find parking in commuter lots will encourage more people to park and carpool or take public transit. "Commuters have told us that not knowing whether parking is available at commuter lots is a deterrent to using transit, carpools, vanpools, and slugging,” said Amy McElwain, program manager for VDOT’s Office of Strategic Innovations. “We know that taking the guesswork out of parking makes it easier for commuters to get out of their single-occupant vehicles. However, the challenge ha...
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Jury acquits one of two brothers charged for murdering Westmoreland, VA teacher
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Jury acquits one of two brothers charged for murdering Westmoreland, VA teacher

One of the two brothers accused of murdering a teacher in Westmoreland County, VA was acquitted Dec 5. Demetri Raymond Gardiner, 30, of Leonardtown, MD faced charges of 2nd degree murder, arson of an occupied dwelling, and 3 counts of animal cruelty causing death. Those charges stemmed from the murder of Taylor Wood, his brother’s 29-year-old girlfriend, and the burning of her house with her body and three dogs inside. Need to Catch Up? See… 2 men held in MD accused of murdering Westmoreland, VA school teacher Brothers returned to Virginia to face murder charges in Westmoreland According to testimony from forensic expert Dr. Jennifer Bowers, of the VA Medical Examiner’s Office, Wood’s death was caused by stab wounds to her neck area. Bowers testified that her finding...
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Police claim to have recording of Ridgeway woman discussing murder-for-hire plot
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Police claim to have recording of Ridgeway woman discussing murder-for-hire plot

A 44-year-old Ridgeway woman is being held at Henry County Adult Detention Center with no bond after being arrested for a murder-for-hire plot. A confidential informant, who was working with law enforcement, met with Gennevieve McGhee at her residence on Chestnut Knob Rd. on Nov. 26., Henry County Sheriff’s Office reported. That informant used “a recording device” during the encounter, and McGhee allegedly outlined “detailed plans” for a robbery and murder, including the payment arrangements and detailed instructions of how she wanted it carried out, HCSO said. The recording device captured video and audio, and "McGhee was positively identified as the individual speaking with the source," HCSO also stated. McGhee was taken into custody by Henry County deputies on Nov. 27 and i...
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2 Fredericksburg suspects accused of murder for body found in Caroline
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2 Fredericksburg suspects accused of murder for body found in Caroline

Last week, Caroline County Sheriff’s Office announced there was an investigation underway after a Stafford man’s body was discovered by a gravel road in a rural part of the county on the morning of Nov. 18. The man had no known connections to the area where he was found. And preliminary investigations indicate that the victim was abducted, transported, and shot in the area of Caroline where he was found, the Sheriff’s Office said. Days later, CCSO arrested two Fredericksburg suspects, 30-year-old Laurel Ainsleigh Thrift and 47-year-old James William Jackson. Explaining how the pair were caught, CCSO said during the investigation, investigators went and interviewed people in Stafford, Spotsylvania, and Fredericksburg. That provided critical leads that led CCSO to request assistance...
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Montross man in Gloucester turn-over crash had no license & list of charges
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Montross man in Gloucester turn-over crash had no license & list of charges

The Montross man charged for the overturned log truck crash that shut down Rt. 33 in Gloucester on Nov. 21 didn’t even have a driver’s license, according to Virginia State Police. At around 1:30 p.m. on that Thursday afternoon, 56-year-old Arthur W. Cardell was driving a 1998 International truck from Robinson's D & B Logging in the 12000 block of History Land Hwy in Warsaw, according to the report from VSP. Cardell was traveling southbound on Rt. 17 and when he turned onto Rt. 33 westbound, the truck turned over and logs spilled onto both sides of the highway. Both the eastbound and westbound lanes were closed. VDOT reported that multiple wreckers were called to the scene as well as VDOT crews from the Middlesex and Gloucester headquarters. Cardell was transported to the ho...
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