Speeding, eluding police, driving recklessly and committing a hit-and-run offense all come with a price to pay and, Friday afternoon in Fairfax County Circuit Court, Raleigh Lee Gregory learned that it cost him his freedom.
HE WAS sentenced to 20 months in prison for his driving behavior that caused a five-car crash in Centreville and sent one person to the hospital. Gregory, 40, is of 11009 Blake Lane in Bealeton.
Said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Marc Birnbaum: "The manner in which this defendant was driving was completely without respect for other people."
The incident occurred April 29, 2004, around 5 p.m., near Braddock Road in Centreville. When Gregory drove on the shoulder of Route 28 south at high speed, a police officer tried to stop him, but to no avail.
Instead, Gregory sped away and tried to turn onto Braddock, causing a crash involving five vehicles. One man was injured in the accident and treated at Inova Fair Oaks Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
However, Gregory didn't stick around long enough to find out. Instead, said police, he "bailed out of his car" and tried to flee, but additional officers arrived and took him into custody. Police charged him with felony hit-and-run, felony speeding to elude, felony operating a vehicle by a habitual offender and felony possession of cocaine.
On Nov. 23 in Circuit Court, he pleaded guilty to all four charges and returned Friday for sentencing. First, though, defense attorney Mandy Petrocelli called two witnesses to testify for him.
Roy Hamock said he and Gregory worked in mailrooms in two Westfields companies from 1999-2004, and he called Gregory "an outstanding worker, an honest person and a good family man."
Thomas Joseph was Gregory's boss when he worked for General Dynamics and for TFI, a company Joseph began. He praised Gregory's work ethic, but said he owes almost $15,000 in court costs and fines "in multiple courts" for prior traffic tickets.
BIRNBAUM SAID this case could have been much more severe. "It's 4 p.m. on a Thursday, people are driving home from work — and out of nowhere — [Gregory] drives on the shoulder," he said. "He hits a car; that doesn't stop him. He goes into an intersection and hits another car."
"He doesn't stop for the police officer or for the civilian whose car he hit," continued Birnbaum. "He has a staggering number of arrests for various misdemeanors and felonies — violations against people, [driving laws] and drug-control laws."
But Petrocelli said her client could still be a "productive, contributing member of society" and had been trying hard to overcome his past.
"He knows it was immensely poor judgment to drive the way he did," she said. "He told police his license was suspended and there was marijuana and cocaine in the car." She said he'd already been declared a habitual offender because "his license got suspended because he didn't pay his court costs and fines on time because he didn't have the money."
When Gregory's job was contracted out, said Petrocelli, he couldn't cope with the loss. "His job was a large part of his identity," she said. "[Losing it] led him to make extremely poor decisions."
Before being sentenced, Gregory promised he'd never drive again. "It was a stupid mistake and I almost lost my wife over it," he said. "I just don't think it's fair that my past is always held against me. I'm truly sorry for what I did. If there's a final chance in this courtroom's heart, may I please receive it here today."
But Judge Stanley Klein had the last word. "If you just had some cocaine because you were depressed about what happened [to your job], then maybe," he said. "If you were driving on your way to work or to do something positive, then maybe. If after you hit the first car, you had stopped, then maybe."
"But you had marijuana and cocaine, and you were driving again as a habitual offender — for which you'd been convicted twice before," continued Klein. "After the accident, you fled the scene and didn't know or care whether the people you'd hit needed help. And you fled from the police. You're very fortunate someone didn't get killed."
He then sentenced Gregory to 20 months in prison and two years post-release supervision. He also suspended his driver's license for an additional 18 months.