NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — 36-year-old Robert Howard was sentenced on Friday, March 15, after shoplifting in 2021 and then violating his plea agreement by committing additional crimes, a release states.
On April 28, 2021, Howard entered the NEX, and left the store with over $3,000 worth of merchandise before being confronted by a loss prevention officer.
Howard was charged with grand larceny, and pleaded guilty on Jan. 9, 2022. His plea was accepted on a lesser charge on the condition that he be of uniform good behavior for one year and complete 50 hours of community service.
However, after his plea deal, Howard committed several crimes in other Hampton Roads cities, including a felony and 41 misdemeanors. He was sentenced to over six years in prison for those crimes.
Due to the fact that these crimes violated the terms in his plea agreement, he was then also sentenced to one and a half years in prison, with an additional two and a half years suspended on the conditions that Howard be banned from the NEX, complete substance abuse treatment while incarcerated, and complete three years of uniform good behavior and a period of indeterminate supervised probation following his release.
“Our office offers second chances to people who have the potential to reform, said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Mr. Howard got one of those second chances, but rather than reform, he committed new crimes, and now he must serve the sentences he has earned.”
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