Intoxicated driver agrees to prison sentence in plea deal

A Richmond man will now serve a little over three years in prison after a car accident injured his brother.

Rodney Wayne Jones Sr., 56, 2816 Mouldlin Street, accepted a plea deal from Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Tyler during Charles City Circuit Court proceedings on Sept. 3. Jones pled guilty to one felony count of DUI maiming, and misdemeanor counts of DUI (first offense), driving on a revoked license, and providing false information to a police officer.

In a summary of evidence, Jones was the wheelman in an accident on Sept. 2, 2012. Jones and his brother, Tyrone Cox, were in the middle vehicle of three vehicles leaving a party on Courthouse Road in Charles City and heading to Crewe’s Place. While driving, the third vehicle passed Jones and the lead car. Jones followed suit, but lost control of the car in a curve. Cox was ejected from the vehicle and received significant injuries. State police arrived at the incident, receiving a statement from Jones that another man was driving the vehicle. A field sobriety and breathalyzer test was conducted on Jones and evidence found him to be over the legal limit. A further investigation found that Jones also was the driver of the vehicle and operating it while having a revoked license.

Under the plea agreement, Jones received three years, one month active time on the DUI maiming charge with 1 year, 11 months suspended. He had one year suspended on each of the three misdemeanor charges, along with a $250 fine and his driver’s license revoked indefinitely.

In an unrelated case, a charge of malicious wounding was dropped against Jege L. Jefferson, 19, 6400 block of Blossom View Lane, Henrico. According to Tyler, an incident an altercation on Sept. 11, 2012 did not have any elevated factors to warrant the charge.