Friday, April 12, 2013
Rodolfo Hernandez-Suazo, 54, was also charged with abduction and incest.
A 54-year-old Arlington man convicted of raping and abducting his adult daughter is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison. Rodolfo Hernandez-Suazo was sentenced in the Arlington County Circuit Court by Judge Louise M. DiMatteo, who imposed the jury’s recommend 80-year sentence. DiMatteo ordered the concurrent sentencing of 50 years for rape, 25 years for abduction and five years for incest, which means Hernandez-Suazo will serve 50 years. The sentence also includes a $25,000 fine. According to a news release from the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office for Arlington and Falls Church, Hernandez-Suazo lured his adult daughter to a south Arlington hotel room in January 2013 after saying he was going to do some maintenance work there. …
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Gonzales to be sentenced early next year.
A 45-year-old Washington man has pleaded guilty to simple abduction, a felony, after a jury couldn't reach a unanimous decision on more severe charges. Francis M. Gonzales pleaded guilty to the lesser count on Friday after a trial last week ended in a hung jury, according to the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office for Arlington and Falls Church. Gonzales was accused of holding a prostitute against her will on Jan. 19 at the Radisson Hotel at 2020 Jefferson Davis Highway, Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Molly Newton told Patch. Gonzales and the woman had set up a meeting, but things "didn't go as planned," Newton said, citing evidence presented in court. A dispute followed, in which Gonzales refused to let the woman leave the room. Authorities …
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Commonwealth's Attorney's Office: Victims' testimony helped lead to conviction.
Storme Gary Swann, 51, formerly of La Plata, Md., was found guilty this week in Arlington County Circuit Court of two counts of robbery, two counts of abduction and one count of statutory burglary. A jury found Swann guilty Thursday following a three-day trial and recommended a 95-year sentence, according to an Arlington County Police Department news release. On Aug. 14, 2010, Swann forced his way into a hotel room and assaulted, detained and bound two female tourists — a 73-year-old woman and her 51-year-old daughter, both visiting from Canada, the release states. The hotel was in the 2400 block of South Glebe Road. Swann robbed them of cash, jewelry and electronics and sexually assaulted one of them, the release states. Swann's criminal …
Friday, September 7, 2012
The convicted child molester was sentenced Friday for sexually assaulting girls who spent the night at his daughter's sleepover.
Falls Church resident Michael Gardner, convicted in May of molesting two girls during his daughter’s sleepover birthday party last year, was sentenced Friday morning to 22 years in prison. The girls who attended the party, held in June 2011, were ages 9 and 10. Judge Benjamin Kendrick gave Gardner, husband of former Falls Church mayor Robin Gardner, all of the 22 years a jury recommended earlier this year. Gardner and his wife, who were surrounded by family and supporters in a packed courtroom, appeared stoic when they heard the sentence. Before Kendrick, who spent most of the three-hour sentencing hearing squinting with his fingers resting on his temples, announced his decision, Gardner read a statement maintaining his innocence. "I have …
Friday, May 25, 2012
Arlington men convicted of robbing Four Mile Run gas station at gunpoint.
An Arlington County jury this week found two men guilty of a Christmas Day robbery of a gas station and recommended to a judge that they serve at least a decade behind bars. Liban Jama, 24, and Earl Brown, 28, both of Arlington, were arrested Dec. 25, 2011, following an armed robbery. Jama entered the Mobil gas station at 4154 S. Four Mile Run Drive shortly after noon that day. He brandished a gun — later determined to be a BB gun — and demanded money and cigarettes. After the heist, he joined Brown, who was waiting in the getaway car. The robbery "drew numerous police officers to the area with guns drawn in an effort to arrest the two as they tried to flee the scene," according to the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office for Arlington and …
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Commonwealth, defense present three hours of closing arguments Tuesday.
Attorneys in the sex abuse trial of Falls Church political and civic activist Michael Gardner gave long, emotional closing arguments Tuesday in Arlington County Circuit Court. Gardner, 48, is accused of molesting three young girls last summer — one, his daughter's best friend who was sleeping over one night in June; the other two, the next night during a birthday slumber party. During the short recesses Tuesday, Gardner spoke and sat briefly with his wife, Robin, and family and friends. Robin Gardner is a former mayor of Falls Church and a sitting councilwoman. He has formally been charged with three counts of aggravated sexual battery against a minor under 13 years old, each of which carries a prison sentence ranging from one to 20 years…
Michael Josef Basl
6:01 pm on Saturday, December 22, 2012
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