NK couple pleads guilty in circuit court to copper thefts

A husband and wife duo involved in copper thefts in New Kent County accepted plea deals on March 18 in New Kent Circuit Court.

Angel Leighann Anderson, 25, and Kenneth Barnhart IV, 31, both of 5001 Good Hope Road, Lanexa, accepted the deals stemming from copper thefts occurring on a variety of dates from July to September in 2012.

In a summary of evidence by Commonwealth’s Attorney Linwood Gregory, Anderson and Barnhart were individually involved in stealing copper from various locations in New Kent.

Gregory said the pair stole copper to sell for cash. In turn, the defendants would use cash from the sales to purchase heroin to feed their addictions.

Barnhart’s plea deal consisted of two guilty pleas to grand larceny on Sept. 10 and 11 of last year.

Two additional charges of grand larceny, four charges of destruction of property, and three charges of misdemeanor trespassing were dropped.

Barnhart admitted that on Sept. 10 of last year he entered a Dominion Virginia Power substation on South Courthouse Road and an AT&T cell tower site on Marine Corps Drive on Sept. 11 to obtain the metal.

Under the agreement, he received five years in prison on each of the two charges and will serve six months active from the first charge alone.

He will also have to pay $2,200 in restitution to Dominion Power and $1,350 to AT&T.

In Anderson’s agreement, she pleaded guilty to three charges of misdemeanor accessory after the fact to grand larceny that were reduced from original charges of grand larceny.

Three charges of destruction of property and one charge of possession of a controlled substance (heroin) were dropped.

Anderson admitted she was the driver of the vehicle that transported Barnhart and a third co-defendant, Allen Scott Rutherford Jr., to Dominion Power substations on South Courthouse Road and the Rockahock location on July 30, Aug. 8, and Sept. 10 of last year.

Under the agreement, she received a total of three years on all three charges (one year for each charge), and will serve the entire one year on the first charge. The other two years were suspended. She must pay $3,000 in restitution.

Rutherford had been scheduled as a prosecution witness, but was not called to testify against Anderson and Barnett.

Rutherford’s trial has been continued until May 6.