Tangier native’s charge reduced

By Linda Cicoira

A felony count of illegally receiving unemployment compensation while he was working was reduced to a misdemeanor Thursday in Accomack Circuit Court for a former Tangier waterman.

A year after pleading guilty, 50-year-old Michael S. Pruitt, of Crisfield, Md., was also given a 12-month suspended sentence in a plea bargain offered by an assistant state attorney general.

No supervised probation was ordered. The state plans to monitor his payments until the $9,808 in restitution is received. Pruitt paid $500 just after his trial last year and continued to pay $200 a month since then.

In another case, Erik Ricardo Castillo-Garcia, of Joynes Neck Road in Accomac, pleaded guilty to a third or subsequent offense of DUI that occurred on Oct. 21, 2025, after he crashed his vehicle near the local Perdue plant. Counts of reckless driving and driving with bad brakes were dropped. The defendant could be sentenced to up to five years in prison and fined $2,500. A short-form presentence report was ordered. He plans to apply for a state rehabilitation program. Sentencing was set for Aug. 6.

In another action, 55-year-old Kelly Riley, of Upshur’s Neck Road in Quinby, requested a jury trial. She is accused of stealing more than $1,000 worth of property belonging to Kevin Buckley on May 1, 2025. The trial was set for Oct. 15. She remains free on bond.