Several sentenced in Northampton Court Monday

By Linda Cicoira

An Exmore man was sentenced to two years of active time Monday in Northampton Circuit Court for felony assault and battery of a police officer and several misdemeanor charges.

According to evidence, the case against 42-year-old Pierce Scanlan, of Occahannock Neck Road, involved yelling profanities at a passerby, neighbors, and officers; public intoxication; seeking to quiet a dog with a knife; challenging a neighbor to a fight; pulling the knife on an unidentified woman; and trying to threaten a police officer with a knife, in June 2023.

In a plea bargain, Scanlan agreed to waive his Fourth Amendment right regarding search and seizure for five years, not having contact with neighbors, and refraining from alcohol and illegal drugs. The bargain also called for five years of supervised probation and eight years of good behavior.

In another case, 46-year-old Shaunta Arnez Giddens, of Bayford Road in Exmore, was given a 12-month suspended sentence for misdemeanor fleeing from police and petty theft, and a five-year suspended term for felony unauthorized use of a vehicle. Counts of forging and uttering a check in December 2023 were not prosecuted.

Twenty-five-year-old Johnny Lee Sample III, of Hampton, was sentenced to three years in prison with all but a month suspended for a second offense of carrying a concealed weapon, which is a felony. The crime occurred two years ago. He was scheduled to serve his time on weekends and will be on supervised probation for a year. A count of possession of a stimulant known as bath salts was dismissed. Possession of a gun while in possession of the drug was not prosecuted.

     Forty-four-year-old Mohonda Octavis Whitfield, of Portsmouth, pleaded guilty to receiving or buying a stolen Dodge Challenger valued at more than $1,000 on Jan. 1, 2023.  A presentence report was ordered. Sentencing was set for Dec. 9.