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Pritt, Tolbert plead guilty in Bath Court
By Margo Oxendine • Staff Writer
WARM SPRINGS - Two defendants pleaded guilty to felony charges in Bath County Circuit Court last Friday.
Brandon Tolbert, 29, of Covington, was found guilty of two counts of drug possession; he was indicted by a Bath grand jury in June.
The offense occurred April 5. Sgt. Winifred Smith with the Bath sheriff's office answered a complaint of domestic violence in Hot Springs. Smith, who also serves on the Alleghany Highlands Drug Task Force, "patted down" Tolbert during questioning, and "found drugs in his pocket," Commonwealth's Attorney Chris Singleton said during the trial.
Tolbert was "also carrying a large amount of cash," Singleton noted. Smith seized $1,546. Tolbert was initially charged with intent to distribute the drugs; however, since he had recently received a tax refund, Singleton said, the commonwealth "couldn't prove intent to distribute," and those charges were dropped.
Because Tolbert has no significant criminal history, Singleton recommended Judge Humes Franklin sentence Tolbert to 12 months in jail on each of the two felony charges, to run concurrently, suspended. Judge Franklin did that, also placing Tolbert on 12 months unsupervised probation. Tolbert was ordered to pay court costs.
Because the $1,546.66 was already in the custody of the sheriff's office, Singleton suggested Tolbert pay the court costs before any of that money was refunded to him. Court costs amounted to $1,825; therefore, Tolbert still owes the court $279.34.
Michael Pritt, 53, of Hot Springs was found guilty of five felonies: two counts of breaking and entering to commit larceny; two counts of grand larceny; and failing to register as a sex offender of crimes against minors.
Singleton noted during Pritt's trial that he had failed to advise the commonwealth of his change of address when he moved to Bath County; when sent a re-registration form by the state, Pritt also failed to file it within the required 90 days. Singleton said Pritt admitted "he was hiding out in Bath County because he didn't want Grayson County authorities to know where he was."
The larceny and burglary charges stemmed from an incident in April, when Pritt broke into the home and shed of Barbara Keysey of McGraw Gap Road. Pritt stole a number of items, including a riding lawn mower.
Sitting in court watching the trial, Keyser told a reporter her neighbor saw Pritt riding the lawn mower up the road from Keyser's house toward a place where he was living. This led authorities to Pritt in short order; the lawn mower and other stolen items were in his possession.
Singleton noted, "He had taken a perfectly good lawn mower and put his own sloppy paint job on it," adding that Pritt was "hiding out in a shed up in the woods." The stolen items included camping equipment, which Pritt was using for his own comfort. These belonged to Keyser's nephew, Timmy. Possession of the camping equipment led to the two misdemeanor charges of petit larceny, to which Pritt also pleaded guilty.
Judge Franklin found Pritt guilty of the five felonies and two misdemeanors, and ordered that he continue to be held in custody in the Alleghany Regional Jail, pending a presentencing report.
Another indictment is pending; Pritt waived his right to a speedy trial on that charge.
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