Nassawadox man gets 10 active years for selling Cocaine

By Linda Cicoira

A 51-year-old Nassawadox man was sentenced Monday in Northampton Circuit Court to 10 active years in prison for a third or subsequent count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

Leroy Johnson, a waterman who lives on Bayford Road, was initially charged with two more cocaine distribution charges, which in total could have resulted in 50 years in prison. Those charges weren’t prosecuted in exchange for his guilty plea for selling cocaine on July 11, 2023.

Judge Lynwood W. Lewis Jr. sentenced him to 20 years with all but the mandatory minimum of 10 years suspended. Upon release, Johnson will be on three years of supervised probation and 10 years of good behavior. The defendant was immediately remanded to the Eastern Shore Regional Jail to await transport to prison.

In another case, 50-year-old Timothy Tremaine Washington was sentenced to 10 years in prison with all but a year and 10 months suspended for selling $50 worth of cocaine to his cousin.

Washington’s lawyer told the court the defendant moved to Westfield Avenue in Exmore to care for his mother, who has Stage 4 kidney disease and other ailments after his sister died of COVID-19. He said he sold the drug to help raise money for medications for his mother.

Two other counts of selling cocaine in 2024 were not prosecuted in a plea bargain. It was later learned that Washington had sold marijuana in a school zone in Pennsylvania and crack in another transaction.

Judge Lewis said he was sympathetic regarding the man’s mother and allowed him to report to jail on April 25 to make arrangements for her. However, Lewis concluded that Washington “sells drugs” and gave him the term decided by the plea bargain.

In a third case, 31-year-old Jamiya Nicole Martin, of Chapel Lake Drive in Virginia Beach, pleaded guilty to unauthorized use of a U-Haul vehicle that belonged to Bay Storage. Martin failed to return the equipment she rented on July 21, 2024. Martin had promised to bring it back the following day.

Court records stated her payment card was declined, and she did not answer her phone when the company attempted to contact her. More than a month later, she picked up her phone when a Northampton deputy called. The vehicle was then retrieved from an unspecified place on the Eastern Shore.

A plea bargain reduced the charge to a misdemeanor. Martin was given a 12-month suspended sentence with the condition that she pay $1,381 in restitution within six months. She will be on good behavior for a year.