Man admits to stealing thousands in lottery tickets

By Linda Cicoira

A former worker at B&B Convenience Store on Lankford Highway in Machipongo pleaded guilty Tuesday in Northampton Circuit Court to stealing lottery tickets from the business estimated to be worth $50,000.

Forty-three-year-old Clyde Jerome Francis, of Finney Lane in Machipongo, admitted to committing the crimes between Sept. 1, 2024 and April 5, 2025.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Jack Thornton said the store’s owner put Francis, a long-time employee, in charge of the store’s lottery. The owner found a $900 discrepancy in April 2025 and realized the defendant had been stealing for a while.

Francis “broke down, crying, offering to pay it back,” Thornton continued. “The big issue is repayment.” He will be required to make full restitution and be on 10 years of good behavior.

The prosecutor said the defendant has no prior criminal history, so he will not seek an active prison term, which is in accordance with guidelines.

But “he will be on a tight leash,” Thornton said. “The commonwealth will ask for a significant amount of time to hang over his head” until he pays the money back.

A short-form presentence report was ordered. Francis was allowed to remain free on bond.

Defense lawyer Andrew M. Sacks said the amount of restitution would have to be worked out between him and Thornton as they were not in total agreement.

“He is working now, and that is what we want so he can pay this money back,” Sacks said, adding that his client was “very cooperative. He has some mental health issues and is in therapy for that and for gambling,” the lawyer said.

In another case, 66-year-old Bernard Wendell Wynder, of Eastway Court in Cape Charles, pleaded guilty to failing to register as a violent Tier III sex offender on Sept. 1, 2025. He was first required to register as a sex offender after being convicted by a jury in 1995 for felony sexual battery and felony exposure to a minor in November 1994. Wynder was sentenced to three years for those crimes.

For failing to register, retired Judge Revell Lewis gave Wynder a 10-year suspended sentence on the condition that he be on good behavior for 10 years and be on supervised probation for five years. Wynder was also ordered to wear a GPS monitor and was prohibited from purchasing, possessing, or viewing pornographic videos.

Forty-eight-year-old Nehshawae Nicole James, of Melfa, was given a 10-year suspended sentence for grand larceny that occurred Oct. 7, 2025. She will be on three years of supervised probation, was ordered to have no contact with the victim, was prohibited from excessive use of alcohol, and was sent to the court clerk’s office to establish a payment plan for $980 in court costs. She pleaded guilty in exchange for the lenient sentence. A count of credit card larceny was also not prosecuted.