News

A man accused of sexually assaulting a woman on the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail in Herndon in 2024 has pleaded guilty to the charge of rape.

Denis Humberto Roman Navarette, 33, pleaded guilty yesterday (Tuesday) in Fairfax County Circuit Court, according to court records. Per a plea agreement, he could serve up to 18 years in prison, which the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney says exceeds the midpoint of Virginia’s Criminal Sentencing Guidelines for the crime.


News

A Bailey’s Crossroads man is scheduled to face a 15-day jury trial this spring on charges of aggravated murder and felony child abuse.

During a hearing in Fairfax County Circuit Court Friday (Aug. 7),  a trial date was set for Misael Lopez Gomez, 28, who is accused of killing his three-month-old daughter. Barring continuances or a plea agreement, the trial will begin April 5, 2027.


News

A man who pleaded guilty to raping a high school friend and then hiding her body in a wooded area of Springfield will spend the next seven decades in prison.

Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Jonathan Frieden sentenced Terence Bridgett Jr. today (Friday) to more than two life terms in prison today, suspending all but 70 years, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano announced.


News

A case charging Mason District Supervisor Andres Jimenez with reckless driving likely won’t be handled by the Office of the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney.

The office will request that the Fairfax County General District Court appoint a special prosecutor from another jurisdiction to the case at an adjudicatory hearing on Monday (July 20), according to Laura Birnbaum, a spokesperson for Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano’s office.


Countywide

Republican lawmakers accused Fairfax County’s top prosecutor and sheriff of being soft on crime and endangering lives due to policies limiting cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement — a charge both denied during a tense congressional hearing yesterday (Thursday).

Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano and Sheriff Stacey Kincaid testified that they do not provide preferential treatment to immigrants, as congressional Republicans repeatedly alleged throughout the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement hearing.


Countywide

The Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office isn’t backing down on its policy guidance for cases involving undocumented immigrants as defendants.

A day after the U.S. Department of Justice announced it’s investigating the policy for potential civil rights violations, a spokesperson for the prosecutors’ office criticized the probe as “the latest example of the Trump Administration’s own ‘pattern or practice’ of misusing the Justice Department to launch partisan attacks.”


Countywide

The Trump administration has launched an investigation into the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office over its handling of cases involving undocumented immigrants as defendants.

The Justice Department notified Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano today (Wednesday) that it has opened an investigation into his office’s policy advising prosecutors to consider defendants’ immigration status when making decisions about plea agreements, charges and sentencing.


News

A Fairfax High School student will serve more than four months in jail for reportedly groping multiple girls in the school’s halls.

Israel Christopher Flores Ortiz, an 18-year-old who’s currently a junior at Fairfax High, was sentenced today (Tuesday) to 180 days in jail for each of the nine fellow students he was found guilty of assaulting earlier this year.


Countywide

Nine progressive prosecutors around the country, including Fairfax County’s Steve Descano, have joined forces in hopes of holding federal agents accountable for violating state laws.

The Project to Fight Against Federal Overreach (FAFO) coalition, which launched yesterday (Wednesday), aims to “rein in unlawful conduct” amid a growing presence of federal immigration and law enforcement in communities across the country.


News

A wrongful death lawsuit against the former Fairfax County police officer who fatally shot Timothy Johnson outside Tysons Corner Center in February 2023 appears to be headed toward a settlement.

Fairfax County has agreed to pay Johnson’s mother, Melissa Johnson, $1.1 million to settle her claims against former Fairfax County Police Department Sgt. Wesley Shifflett, according to court documents.


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