News

Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano slammed Gov. Glenn Youngkin today (Monday), accusing the Republican executive of commuting a former police officer’s prison sentence without regard for “the law or the facts.”

The governor’s office announced late Sunday that Youngkin had commuted the sentence of former Sgt. Wesley Shifflett only two days after it was handed down by Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy I. Bellows.


News

A former Fairfax County police officer who shot and killed a man in Tysons had his prison sentence commuted tonight (Sunday) by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

Former Sgt. Wesley Shifflett was sentenced to serve three years in state prison on Friday (Feb. 28) after being convicted of recklessly handling a firearm.


News

The former Fairfax County police officer who fatally shot Timothy McCree Johnson outside Tysons Corner Center in February 2023 has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows sentenced former sergeant Wesley Shifflett to five years of incarceration today (Friday) with two years suspended, the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office announced.


News

A Reston man has been sentenced by a federal judge to nearly two decades in prison for preying on teens he encountered online — more than three years after Fairfax County courts dismissed similar charges against him.

Xavier Dejuan Jackson, 28, was sentenced to 19 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff in Alexandria today (Thursday) after he pleaded guilty last year to sexually exploiting a child, transporting minors and attempting to coerce a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced.


News

A Centreville woman could face up to two decades in prison for embezzling thousands of dollars from the Herndon-based farmers’ cooperative where she worked.

Paula Sue Leventhal, 64, pleaded guilty in federal court on Wednesday (Feb. 19) to wire fraud after she redirected $550,000 from the cooperative to her personal bank accounts, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced.


News

A grand jury has returned a true bill over the shooting death of a man at a Reston gym last summer.

Steve Taehee Ha, 43, was indicted Tuesday (Feb. 18), nearly six months after he was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.


News

Another member of the gang MS-13 will serve decades in prison for participating in multiple murders, including ones in Reston.

Henry Leonel Barrera Ayala, 26, was sentenced by a federal judge to 50 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced yesterday (Thursday).


News

A D.C. man will serve almost two decades in prison for allegedly participating in the stalking, robbery and kidnapping of two Fairfax County residents as well as a woman in Maryland.

A U.S. District Court judge in D.C. sentenced Tyree Eugene McCombs, 29, to 228 months, or 19 years, in prison yesterday (Tuesday) after he pleaded guilty last year to robbery and kidnapping charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. announced.


Countywide

Individuals who believe they have been wrongfully convicted in Fairfax County now have a new way forward.

The county’s Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, in partnership with the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project (MAIP), announced today (Monday) the creation of a Conviction Integrity Unit that will review challenged cases, establishing a process to potentially “secure more just outcomes.”


News

Local couples looking to tie the knot before Valentine’s Day will have a chance to save a few bucks in the process next week.

The Fairfax County Circuit Court is offering free civil marriage ceremonies next Tuesday, Feb. 11 at its Reston satellite office, which will be open in the Cathy Hudgins Community Center at Southgate from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.


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