West Point men receive time for drug deal executed in New Kent

Two West Point men who were involved in a drug exchange have entered guilty pleas to different charges as part of plea deals reached Monday in New Kent Circuit Court.

James Warren Dixon, 34, of the 100 block of Bellwood Street, West Point, and Roger Charles Eveland, 28, of the 800 block of Kentwood Drive, both made their pleas stemming from an Oct. 4, 2018 incident. Dixon entered a guilty plea to one count of resale of a schedule I/II drug (heroin) as part of a deal. Once charge of conspiracy to sell a schedule I/II drug was dropped as part of the agreement. Eveland entered a guilty plea to an amended charge of distribution of heroin as an accommodation (originally conspiracy to sell a schedule I/II drug) as part of his agreement.

In a summary of evidence provided by Commonwealth’s Attorney C. Linwood Gregory, the Twin Rivers Drug Task force identified Dixon as a target of a drug investigation. A confidential informant arranged to buy one gram of heroin from Dixon, who agreed to sell it to him. Dixon agreed to sell the drug to the informant at the home of Eveland, who was residing in the Eltham area of New Kent. The informant purchased approximately 1.13 grams of heroin from Dixon and took the substance back to the Twin Rivers Task Force. Dixon and Eveland were arrested on the charges.

Dixon received a five-year sentence with four years suspended (one year to serve) for selling the heroin to the confidential informant. Eveland was sentenced to five years in jail with four years, six months suspended (six months to serve) as he was aware of the transaction taking place in his home.

In an unrelated case, a Newport News man who evaded arrest for three years will serve at least nine months behind bars in jail after accepting a plea deal.

Larry Taylor, 53, of the 900 block of 37th Street, entered guilty pleas to one count of petty larceny (third or subsequent offense) and felony failure to appear during his trial. One charge of misdemeanor lottery ticket larceny and felony failure to appear as part of pretrial services were dropped as part of the agreement.

In a summary of evidence, on Feb. 19, 2016, Taylor entered the 7-Eleven store in Eltham at approximately 11:42 a.m. At that time, he had placed items on the counter and asked the clerk to retrieve some food, cigarettes, and lottery tickets for him. After the clerk placed the lottery tickets on the counter, he pocketed the scratch-offs and told the clerk that he had to go to the car to get more money to pay for the rest of the items. Taylor never returned to the store. After the Virginia Lottery was contacted, it was discovered that the defendant tried to cash in a winning prize 20 minutes later at the Pilot located on Emmaus Church Road (Route 106) in New Kent. Taylor was arrested and taken into custody.

Taylor made his $10,000 bond and was scheduled to appear for trial in New Kent Circuit Court on June 29, 2016. However, the defendant didn’t appear, and he would be on the run for more than three years before he was apprehended in Newport News.

While formal sentencing for the defendant isn’t scheduled until Aug. 22, the agreement calls for Taylor to receive a five-year sentence with all but nine months suspended on the felony failure to appear charge. He is currently undergoing an evaluation for the CCAP program and if he qualifies, will be sentenced to the one-year minimum program under his petty larceny conviction. Taylor also faces several charges in other jurisdictions including Charles City.