Judge upholds prison time recommended by NK jury

A New Kent Circuit Court judge has upheld a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence recommended by a jury for a Jamaican national convicted of attempting to possess close to 24 pounds of marijuana valued at over $61,000 that was shipped into the county from California.

Judge Thomas B. Hoover abided by the jury’s decision during a Jan. 7 hearing, labeling as reasonable the jury’s recommendation in the case involving Michael G. Thompson.

“The major point is this is not just a little over five pounds,” the judge said noting the amount needed to qualify for a felony violation.

“This is 24 pounds, and because of the weight, the jury’s recommendation is reasonable,” Hoover added.

Thompson, 56, who resided on Hubbard Lane in Williamsburg, was arrested on June 5, 2006, a few days after two packages shipped from the Los Angeles area arrived at a FedEx distribution center in Mechanicsville. A drug-sniffing dog detected the marijuana, and a sting operation was set up for the packages’ final destination, 15111 Cooks Mill Road in New Kent.

The address turned out to be the home of Deborah M. Lipscomb, 42. A police officer posing as a FedEx driver delivered the packages on May 30. After Lipscomb accepted the packages, signing the name Carrie White, a State Police SWAT team, hiding in the delivery van, moved in and arrested Lipscomb.

Lipscomb testified at Thompson’s trial last Sept. 7 that she was being paid by the defendant to accept delivery of the packages. Cell phone records introduced showed that Thompson made 28 calls to Lipscomb’s phone on the day of the delivery.

Police attempted to lure Thompson to the residence, but apparently he had spotted a New Kent deputy serving civil papers to the same address earlier in the day and stayed away. He later was arrested at the Williamsburg restaurant where he worked as a cook.

Thompson was charged with one count each of transporting more than five pounds of marijuana into Virginia and attempted possession of more than five pounds of the drug.

Evidence at trial, however, failed to convince the jury of nine women and three men that Thompson took part in the marijuana-shipping scheme. Jurors apparently discounted testimony by Lipscomb, a convicted felon, that she was unaware of what the packages contained.

The jury found Thompson not guilty of the transporting charge. But cell phone records played an integral role in convicting the defendant on the attempted possession count. The records also show the nearest tower from which a cell phone call is transmitted. And since normal cell phone-to-tower range is 3-5 miles, the records placed Thompson in New Kent on the delivery date.

During last week’s hearing, defense attorney Tommy Norment portrayed his client as an intermediary in the marijuana scheme and not the person who was ultimately to take possession of the drugs. Norment asked the judge to impose a sentence within the state’s guidelines, which call for a minimum of one year, two months up to two years, eight months.

Commonwealth’s attorney Linwood Gregory asked the judge to uphold the jury’s sentence, and Hoover agreed. Since he pleaded not guilty, Thompson, who has been in jail since his trial, has 30 days in which to file an appeal with the state’s appellate court.