Painter man pleads guilty to drug & gun crimes

By Linda Cicoira

A Painter man pleaded guilty Thursday in Accomack Circuit Court to drug and gun crimes.

Thirty-one-year-old Anthony Rayshad Davis, of Sysco Drive, admitted to possessing cocaine, possessing a firearm while possessing the drug, and being a felon with a concealed gun on March 16, 2024. He was a felon because of a 2018 conviction for possession with intent to distribute a Schedule I or II drug.

Davis could be sentenced to a maximum of a dozen years in prison and a $7,500 fine.

According to testimony, Davis was going 40 mph in a 25-mile-per-hour zone on Drummondtown Road near Accomac, which caused police to follow him to Front Street, where the car was stopped. Cocaine, methamphetamine, and guns were confiscated. Davis was cooperative and polite, so bond was continued until sentencing on May 29.

In another 44-year-old Bobby Lee Padgett, of Baylys Neck Road in Accomac, pleaded guilty to July 17 charges of a second DUI and assault and battery of Deputy N. Lewis. He was sentenced to three years in prison with all but eight months suspended for assaulting the officer and 12 months with six months suspended and a fine of $500 for DUI. He will be on two years of supervised probation and five years of good behavior. His driver’s license was suspended for three years. Padgett is prohibited from drinking alcohol while he is on probation.
“If it were not for alcohol, I wouldn’t be here,” he told the court.

Twenty-two-year-old Tyreik Finney, of Boggs Road in Painter, was given a five-year suspended sentence for possession of a sawed-off shotgun on Dec. 15, 2023. Finney was also put on two years of probation and five years of good behavior. Both the defense and the prosecution said it was a matter of poor decision-making.

“I apologize to the court and my family,” Finney said.

Jennifer Michelle Carpenter, of Mears, was sentenced to five years with all but three months suspended for distribution of the stimulant Vyvanse in February 2024. She will serve the time on weekends and complete any treatment recommended by the Department of Probation. Carpenter will be on two years of probation and five years of good behavior. She was allowed to report to Accomack Jail on March 28.

Fifty-six-year-old Thomas Holston Birch, of Pearl Drive in New Church, pleaded guilty to a Sept. 3 count of misdemeanor fleeing from a police officer. Judgment was withheld under the first offender statute for a charge of possession of cocaine. Birch must remain on good behavior for a year and report back to court regarding the drug charge next March. He was sentenced to six months in jail with all but 30 days suspended for fleeing on foot from a police officer. Officers “took him down” after he abandoned his bicycle and ran about 60 feet away, according to testimony. Birch said he tripped.

Fifty-eight-year-old Sandra Earlene Pruitt, of Hill Street in Onancock, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and destroying evidence in connection with May 21 incidents. The defendant swallowed a piece of crack to hide it from police. Sentencing was set for June 26.