Lee sentenced on alcohol-related charges
Cappiali and Long ordered to clean up Amissville property
Brittney Michele Lee, 31, was sentenced in Rappahannock County Circuit Court Monday on charges of a second DWI in five years and drinking while driving with an open container of alcohol, both misdemeanors; as well as a felony charge of a third DWI in five years with a blood alcohol content of .20, almost three times the legal limit of .08.
Judge Herman A. Whisenant sentenced her to a total of 5 years incarcerated, suspending all but seven months. He also suspended her driver’s license indefinitely and ordered her to be under probation for three years upon release.
Lee, a resident of Washington, has been held at the Rappahannock Shenandoah Warren Regional Jail in Front Royal for three months. She will be credited for that time served.
Frances Taylor, a therapist with the Northwest Community Service Board, testified on Monday that Lee had recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Taylor described treating Lee through a new “community diversion program [that seeks to] to reduce the amount of time people with mental illness are in the corrections system.”
Lee’s record of alcohol-related charges in Rappahannock County goes back to 2014 when she was charged with a second DWI office that was pled down to a first offense in Circuit Court in 2015. Since then, she has been found guilty of several additional DWIs, public swearing and intoxication, and driving without a court-ordered ignition device used to detect alcohol.
In 2015 she pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated. The pickup truck Lee was driving collided with a parked car at the intersection of Harris Hollow Road and Main Street in Washington. Lee left the scene. A witness identified her to Rappahannock County Sheriff’s Office (RCSO) Deputy Brandon Smoot, who found Lee at her parents’ home. Smoot performed field-sobriety tests, some of which his complaint said she failed.
In April of this year, Lee was unable to appear in Rappahannock County District Court because she had been arrested the night before, charged by the Rappahannock County Sheriff’s Office with being “drunk in public.” She was considered to be still too intoxicated to keep her 9 a.m. court date.
In addition to the jail sentence and probation, Whisenant ordered Lee to “enter into a complete substance abuse rehabilitation program.” He authorized work release while Lee is incarcerated if the sheriff’s department approves it.
Meanwhile, Randy Smoot, 48, withdrew his petition for the restoration of driving privileges. According to Commonwealth’s Attorney Art Goff, “Smoot received an unfavorable report from VASAP, Virginia’s alcohol prevention education program. [To restore driving rights] a person has to have three years of verifiable abstinence.”
Smoot had been charged with second-degree murder in the death of Harris Hollow resident Jonas “Jay” Alther in an encounter between the two men in October 2017. In August of 2018, a jury found Smoot guilty of voluntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to 8 months in jail, but given credit for the four months he had already served while being held for trial. He was released from jail in December 2018.
In other Circuit Court proceedings, Edwin Fabricio Montiel, 38, of Woodbridge appeared before Whisenant to appeal conditions of his bail. Montiel is being held at RSW. Montiel’s attorney Peter Hansen asked for a continuance to July 18 to “develop further facts to secure the safety of the community.”
On June 24, Montiel was arrested and charged with abduction, malicious wounding and unlawful use of, or injury to, telephone and telegraph lines stemming from an incident in which he assaulted his girlfriend. According to the criminal complaint filed by Virginia State Trooper C. C Burgoon, Montiel struck the victim, dragged her through a gravel driveway, and prevented her from using her phone to call for help.
The victim was airlifted to a hospital where she was treated for damage to her left eye and other injuries.
IN DISTRICT COURT
On Tuesday, John Cappiali and Joseph Long agreed to terms presented by Goff in relation on an on-going dispute about zoning ordinance violations. Cappiali and his wife Beth live and work from a property owned by Long in Amissville.
The Cappialis manage their contracting businesses from the property, but have been charged by the county of operating without a special exception permit to run a contractor’s yard, which has a specific definition under the county’s zoning ordinance. Cappiali’s permit application was stalled by the Planning Commission until Cappiali can produce engineer-approved site plans.
Rappahannock County Zoning Administrator Michelle Somers charged Long and Cappiali with violating zoning ordinances having to do with storing inoperable or junk vehicles and maintaining junkyards, scrap heaps or refuse piles, all Class 3 misdemeanors.
Goff told the court that he and the county had come to an agreement with Cappiali and Long. Goff dropped the charge of maintaining a junkyard, after Somers and County Administrator Garrey Curry confirmed that the refuse piles had been removed.
Cappiali and Long agreed to plead guilty to two charges, but were given 60 days to rid the property of inoperable and junk vehicles. If they comply within the 60 days, the charges will be dropped. A final charge was continued to allow Cappiali to qualify for his permit.
If Cappiali and Long don’t comply, said Goff outside the courthouse, “They will be subject to fines and abatement. All we want is compliance for the county. It behooves [Cappiali] to move the stuff off the property before he goes to the Board of Supervisors for a special exception permit. I hope this is enough to coerce compliance with the zoning ordinance.”