Virginia Court of Appeals upholds Colonial Heights decision on man who skipped probation

RICHMOND — A federal court has upheld without oral argument a Colonial Heights Circuit Court decision to incarcerate a man who reportedly skipped out on indefinite probation in lieu of jail time for a 2018 grand larceny conviction and wound up in Maryland where he would face an armed robbery charge..

In a decision released Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Antonio Emmanuel Rice's appeal "wholly without merit" because on two separate occasions, Rice had not adhered to the probation requirements, which included leaving the area without permission from his probation officer or the trial court. Last year, a Colonial Heights Circuit Court judge ordered Rice to serve six years in prison for violating his probation on the grand larceny charge because he had a criminal history of several probation violations, including one in Chesterfield County.

Rice's appeal claimed that the six-year sentence was unwarranted because it was "disproportionate" to the grand larceny charge to which he pleaded guilty and received a 10-year sentence with all but six months suspended plus indefinite probation.

A year after his conviction, Rice was brought back before the court for not seeing his probation officer within three days of being released from jail. At the time, the judge gave Rice a second chance to stick with the stipulations, but court records indicated that Rice not only did not comply with the requirements but "absconded to Maryland" without prior permission. While in Baltimore, he was convicted of armed robbery.

According to court records, Rice claimed he had become homeless and addicted to drugs upon his release from jail. He went to Baltimore where he claimed his addiction problems continued.

In his subsequent appearance in Colonial Heights last year, Rice said he wanted to enter long-term drug rehabilitation rather than go back behind bars. That request was denied, and the six-year sentence was imposed.

Nevertheless, appellant’s criminal history, absconding from supervision, and new violent criminal offense support a finding that he was not amenable to rehabilitation," the appellate court wrote. "Upon review of the record in this case, we conclude that the sentence the trial court imposed represents such real consequences and was a proper exercise of judicial discretion."

Additionally, the appellate court wrote, it does not take up proportionality reviews "in cases that do not involvelife sentences without the possibility of parole."

Because it determined the appeal had no merit, the Court of Appeals declined to hear oral arguments on the matter.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Virginia court upholds decision on probation skip in Colonial Heights