Hampton man receives four years for attempted Providence Forge burglaries

A Hampton man will serve four years in prison for attempting to burglarize two Providence Forge businesses last February.

Garrett Michael Jones, 41, of the 300 block of Winston Drive, was handed down a 10-year sentence with six years suspended on one charge of attempted burglary during Oct. 24 morning proceedings in New Kent Circuit Court. Five years on a second attempted burglary charge were all suspended.

During an Aug. 29 trial, Jones accepted a plea agreement presented by Commonwealth’s Attorney Linwood Gregory. At that hearing, Jones admitted that he and another co-defendant, Edward Earl Hardy, attempted to break into the Subway and Providence Forge Partners LLC on Feb. 25, two businesses located in the Providence Forge Center. During the trial, Jones admitted that he and Hardy traveled throughout Virginia burglarizing several places to find money to support their drug habit.

During sentencing, defense attorney Todd Duval proffered that his client would benefit from the ORBIT program, an intense rehabilitation program that would require at least four years to complete while incarcerated. However, Duval said that if his client’s sentences totaled more than four years from his crime in New Kent as well as other jurisdictions, Jones would not qualify.

Judge B. Elliott Bondurant said that Jones’ past was significant in his four-year term handed down by New Kent Circuit Court.

“This man has 10 pages of criminal history,” the judge said. “The first two pages are traffic offenses themselves. As I look at this, I just can’t ignore this history that starts back in 1993.”

Jones will also have to pay a joint restitution in the amount of $3,625. The defendant also has pending charges in other jurisdictions and is serving a one-and-a-half-year term imposed by Chesterfield County Circuit Court.