Cases heard in Northampton Court Monday

By Linda Cicoira

A 25-year-old Exmore man pleaded not guilty to using a vehicle without the owner’s permission on Monday during an arraignment held in Northampton Circuit Court.

Joshua Hunter Smith, a college student who lives on Seaside Road, requested that a jury determine his fate. Smith is accused of illegally using a 2006 Ford Expedition between Jan. 19 and 20, 2025.

The vehicle belonged to Keneisha Spady and was valued at $1,000 or more. In court records, the defendant was also accused of driving the vehicle when it crashed.

The one-day trial was set for June 3. Judge Lynwood W. Lewis Jr. allowed Smith to remain free on bond. Smith said no plea offers have been made to him by the prosecutor’s office.

In another case, 29-year-old Reginald Levant Chavous, of Nassawadox, was sentenced to five years in prison with all but a year and four months suspended for possessing 16 boxes of ammunition after being convicted of a felony. Court records state he had 16 Winchester 12-gauge rounds, three Remington 12-gauge buckshot rounds, 27 .38 special rounds, and four 40 caliber rounds at the Budget Inn, where he was living. He did not possess a gun.

“I’ve been working hard trying to improve myself,” Chavous said. “I have a hard time with what I’m dealing with.”

Chavous is now taking medicine for schizophrenia and is planning to go to an assisted living program after release, where he can be supervised. He will be on probation for five years.

Fifty-eight-year-old Alberta Jacklyn Sides, of Roger’s Drive in Nassawadox, pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine on Nov. 22, 2024, and committing pretrial violations.

Prosecutor Jack Thornton said Sides tested positive for drugs eight times while on bond.

She was sentenced to five years, with all but time served suspended. Sides was also convicted of violating the bond. She will be on supervised probation and good behavior for five years. Sides was ordered to be screened for a drug program through the Community Services Board. A plea bargain called for her to be drug and alcohol free. She was also ordered to pay an unspecified amount of court costs.