Judge steps down from case in aftermath of printed quote

New Kent Circuit Court’s presiding judge stepped down in the case of a defendant caught up in the Operation Close Ties drug sweep after the defense attorney in the matter filed a motion citing prejudice on the judge’s part.

Defense attorney Joey Caprio filed the motion on behalf of client Amanda Marie Baker after a statement Judge Thomas B. Hoover made in court during last month’s trial of Phillip Ryan Landes appeared in print in the March 18 Chronicle edition.

Landes and Baker, described as boyfriend/girlfriend, were captured last December in Ohio about a month after grand jury indictments named them in connection with the illegal drug trade in the county. During Landes trial, Baker’s involvement came up, prompting Hoover to remark, “They are both equally culpable as principals in the first degree.”

Hoover stepped down, and the matter was turned over for trial on March 30 to substitute Judge Thomas Nance. The case, however, was resolved by plea agreement.

Baker, 20, of Quinton, pleaded guilty to three amended counts of cocaine distribution as an accommodation, meaning she sold the drugs without personal profit or gain. She had been indicted on three distribution counts and one conspiracy to distribute charge. As part of the plea deal, the conspiracy count was dropped.

The three remaining charges stemmed from sales Baker made last Sept. 17, 23, and 24 to undercover informants working with the Twin Rivers Narcotics Task Force. Following terms of the plea deal, Nance imposed five years in prison on each charge with all but one year suspended for the next 10 years.

“I had a drug problem at the time,” Baker told the court. “I’ll never do it again. I’ve learned my lesson.”

Nance responded, “Well, I hope so because you’re looking at a lot of serious time.”

Two other defendants arrested in the Operation Close Ties sweep last November stood trial on March 30.

Thomas Huston Howell II, 23, of 4400 Liberty Hall Court in Quinton, pleaded guilty to five drug distribution counts, all labeled first offenses. Four charges dealt with marijuana while the fifth stemmed from selling Ecstasy. All occurred from June-August of last year and involved sales to undercover informants.

In a summary of evidence, Commonwealth’s Attorney Linwood Gregory said informants met with Howell and bought an ounce of marijuana on four occasions — June 24 and 26 and Aug. 6 and 26. The four sales totaled just over $600. On July 21, informants bought $120 in Ecstasy tablets.

Defense attorney Eddie R. Vaughn argued that his client became involved in the drug trade due to unemployment. He said Howell eventually landed a job and quit the drug business.

“The most significant thing is he went to work and quit distributing before he got arrested,” Vaughn told the court. “He’s a good person. He just made some very bad decisions.”

Hoover imposed 10 years in prison on each marijuana distribution count, suspending all but six months for the next 20 years. On the Ecstasy charge, the judge handed Howell 20 years with all but one suspended. The defendant has one year, six months to serve and will be allowed work release.

“I think this is a very reasonable sentence given the work release,” Hoover told the defendant. “I don’t want you to think the court takes these matters lightly. If you come back, you stand a good chance to serve a much longer sentence not just in jail but in a state correctional facility.”

The other Close Ties defendant, Ryan William Janney, 19, of 6936 Longview Drive in Quinton, pleaded guilty to four drug distribution counts. As part of a plea deal, two charges were amended to read as first offenses, and the prosecution agreed not to seek a sentence beyond state guidelines, which recommend between one year and two years, three months in prison on each charge in Janney’s case. Sentencing is scheduled for June.

Again, the charges stemmed from sales to undercover informants. Janney sold cocaine on two occasions, last Aug. 19 and 20. The other counts involved Hydrocodone sold on Aug. 19 and Ecstasy sold on Aug. 26. The sales totaled $295.

In an unrelated case on March 30, Hoover sentenced a Norfolk man to five years in prison, all suspended for the next 20 years, for heroin possession. A State Police trooper arrested Bobby Wayne Stamper, 32, of 6819 East Tanners Creek Road, last Oct. 17 following a traffic stop on Interstate 64. The trooper discovered a syringe containing heroin residue in Stamper’s car.

Stamper tested positive for drugs during a March 16 court appearance and had been held in jail until the March 30 trial.