Prison Guard Guilty in Repo Kidnapping

Halifax County, VA – 21 May 2018 – A former corrections department employee was found guilty on Friday of two felony offenses — abduction and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle — and sentenced to time served by a Halifax County Circuit Court jury.

Thomas Lee of Vernon Hill, an employee at Green Rock Correctional Facility in Chatham when the crime took place, was ordered by the jury to pay a $400 fine for the abduction and a $100 fine for unauthorized use of the vehicle. He served approximately six months in jail after being arrested in late December 2017.

Lee, 58, was found guilty on the basis of evidence presented by the Commonwealth that depicted an angry confrontation between Lee and two individuals who showed up at his property on Dec. 19 to repossess a vehicle in foreclosure. After being shown the repossession documentation, Lee pushed past the tow truck driver, entered the cab of the truck, and drove more than a mile from his home with a passenger in the vehicle.

Lee abandoned the tow truck and his captive passenger on the side of the road, the prosecution informed the jury, and he was ultimately found in nearby bushes by law enforcement personnel using a tracking dog.

At the sentencing phase of the trial, the jury heard evidence of Lee’s roughly six-month incarceration and heard directly from Lee. He testified to his history as a corrections and law-enforcement officer and commendations he had received over the course of his lengthy career. The jury opted to impose the fines rather than additional jail time.

“The jury deliberated and imposed the sentence they concluded was appropriate,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Tracy Quackenbush Martin. “They did exactly as the court instructed: They found the defendant guilty based on the facts of the case, and addressed their view of the severity of the incident and the character the defendant in the sentencing phase.

“We are very thankful to them for their service,” said Martin of the jury decision.

Source: SoVaNow.com