FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 15, 2013
Contact: Heather F. Williamson
Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office
20 East Market Street
Leesburg, VA 20176-2809
(703) 777-0242
HABITUAL OFFENDER SENTENCED TO PRISON
ROADWAYS SAFE FROM LEESBURG DRUNK DRIVER FOR TWO MORE YEARS
LEESBURG, Virginia – October 11, 2013. Robert Lee Chapman, 53, appeared before the Circuit Court of Loudoun County and was sentenced for a November 2012 motor vehicle accident that resulted in felony and misdemeanor charges.
On the evening of November 12, 2012, a Loudoun County Sheriff’s Deputy responded to Evergreen Mills Road to investigate a rear-end collision. The deputy observed Chapman to have an odor of alcoholic beverage on his breath and reddened eyes. Subsequent tests confirmed that Chapman was intoxicated with a blood alcohol level of 0.13, nearly two times the legal limit. Chapman admitted to consuming four 16-ounce beers over the previous four and a half hours.
Chapman pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of alcohol and felony driving after being declared a habitual offender charges on June 18, 2013.
Chapman’s prior criminal history dates back thirty five years and includes convictions for six prior driving under the influence offenses and four charges of driving after being declared a habitual offender. Additionally, Chapman has numerous convictions for assault, drug possession, theft, and escape by a prisoner.
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy M. McMullen urged the Court to impose a lengthy sentence arguing that the “community is lucky [Chapman] didn’t seriously injure or kill someone” and that the “consistent use of probation hasn’t worked for this offender.”
Circuit Court Judge Alfred D. Swersky sentenced Chapman to serve two years in the Virginia Department of Corrections, with an additional four years of suspended time which could be revoked should he violate the terms of his supervised probation upon his release from prison.
Swersky stated that the main objective in sentencing Chapman was to fashion a result that would drive the point home that he needed to stay off the roads, further reiterating that “the next time [Chapman] will get a full active sentence.”
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